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BV    1549    .N82 

Nordell,  Phillip  A.  1846 

1915. 
The  senior  teacher 


THE      BIBLE      STUDY     UNION     LESSONS 

THE    COMPLETELY    GRADED    S 


THE   SENIOR  TEACHER 


PREPARED    BY 


Rev.  PHILIP  a/nORDELL,  D.D. 


AN    AID    IN    TEACHING 

THE  SENIOR  STUDIES 

ON 

THE   MODERN   CHURCH 


Charles  F.  Kent,  Ph.D.  1^^     ;, •       cj-, 

George  A.  Coe,  Ph.D..  LL.D.     ConsuUtng   Editors 


CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 
New  York 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 


THE  LESSONS. 
Part  I.     The  Everyday  Life  of  a  Modern  Church. 

Lesson    1.     The  Modem  Sunday  School:     The  Old  Purpose  and  the 
New  Emphasis         ...... 

Lesson  2.  Why  Pupils  and  Lessons  Should  be  Graded     . 

Lesson  3.  Lesson  Systems  of  the  Present  Day 

Lesson  4.  The  Training  of  Teachers      ..... 

Lesson  5.  New  Types  of  Sunday  School  Work 

Lesson  6.  Getting  and  Holding  the  Pupils      .... 

Lesson  7.  The  Modem  Pulpit 

Lesson  8.  Pubhc  Worship    ....... 

Lesson  9.  How  to  Make  Public  Worship  Effective 

Lesson  10.  The  Prayer  or  Conference  Meeting 

Lesson  1 1 .     Getting  People  to  Church :  A  Survey  of  General  Conditions 
and  Problems  ...... 

Lesson  12.     Getting  People  to  Church:  Local  Conditions  and  Problems 

Lesson  13.     The  Everyday  Growth  in  Church  Membership 


Pages 


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THE  SENIOR  TEACHER.  Published  quarterly  as  a  part  of  the  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 
(The  Completely  Graded  Series), by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  153-157  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York; 
price  15  cents  each,  60  cents  a  year. 


Copyright,  1912,  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York. 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  present  course  on  "  The  Modem  Church  "  follows  in  logical  order 
the  preceding  Senior  courses  and  completes  The  Completely  Graded 
Series.  The  course  on  "  The  Preparations  for  Christianity  "  sketched  the 
unfoldings  of  religious  thought  in  the  Old  Testament  and  in  the  teachings 
of  Christ.  The  course  on  "  Landmarks  in  Christian  History  "  gave  an 
outline  of  the  progress  of  Christianity  from  the  Day  of  Pentecost  to  the 
present  time.  The  course  on  "  The  Conquering  Christ  "  showed  how 
the  forces  latent  in  Christianity  have  been  aroused  during  the  past  century 
and  have  entered  on  a  religious  conquest  of  the  world.  Obviously  one  more 
step  is  needed,  namely,  a  study  of  the  social  organism  in  which  Christianity 
is  embodied  and  through  which  it  operates  for  the  physical,  intellectual, 
spiritual,  and  social  redemption  of  the  world.  That  organism  is  the 
Modem  Church. 

No  study  of  Biblical  history  and  teachings,  or  of  subsequent  church 
history,  can  give  any  adequate  conception  of  what  organized  Christianity 
is  to-day  as  it  faces  the  modem  world  perplexed  by  innumerable  problems 
and  torn  by  revolutionary  forces  that  threaten  the  disorganization  of 
society.  These  forces  have  also  reacted  powerfully  upon  the  church. 
Old  methods  have  been  found  inadequate  for  new  conditions.  In  a 
hundred  ways  the  Modem  Church  has  been  forced  to  abandon  or  recon- 
struct its  outworn  machinery.  New  agencies  outside  of  the  church,  but 
born  of  its  spirit  and  moved  by  its  ideals,  have  been  created  to  carry  on 
more  effectively  certain  forms  of  work  that  the  church  could  not  do  so 
well.  The  emphasis  in  Christian  thought  and  effort  has  been  transferred 
from  salvation  in  the  next  world  to  salvation  in  this  world  The  world 
is  no  longer  looked  upon  as  a  "  vale  of  tears,"  "  a  barren  desert,"  a  hovel 
which  no  temporary  occupant  whose  eyes  are  fixed  on  the  shining  heavenly 
palace  can  think  of  wasting  time  in  decorating.  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
now  recognized  as  God's  world,  a  theater  for  the  establishment  of  His 
kingdom,  and  therefore  the  subject  of  redemption,  a  place  that  offers 
splendid  opportunities  of  service.  The  task  of  the  church  is  no  longer 
limited  to  preparing  men  for  felicity  somewhere  among  the  stars,  but  for 
the  highest  self-realization  and  usefulness  here  and  now.  In  adapting 
herself  to  the  fulfilment  of  this  new  purpose  the  church  is  experiencing  a 
transformation  that  would  have  astonished  our  fathers  as  much  as  the 
railway,  the  steamship,  the  telegraph,  the  telephone,  and  the  wireless. 

The  design  of  the  present  course  is  to  call  attention  to  some  of  the  new 
methods  and  agencies  by  which  the  Christian  Church  of  the  past  is  being 


tv  Introduction 

transformed  into  the  Modern  Church,  and  by  which  she  is  girding  herself 
with  new  strength  for  the  accomphshment  of  the  divine  mission. 

The  topics  embraced  in  this  course  are  such,  we  beheve,  as  have  never 
before  been  brought  to  the  attention  of  Sunday  schools.  So  long  as  the 
Sunday  school  was  a  mere  "  Bible  school,"  with  the  Bible  as  its  exclusive 
text-book,  there  could  be  no  place  for  such  a  course.  Happily,  the  larger 
conception  of  what  is  demanded  by  religious  education  is  making  a  place 
for  such  courses  in  the  Sunday  school  curriculum  as  those  mentioned 
above.  Only  in  a  very  limited  and  narrow  sense  can  the  subjects  there 
considered  be  called  extra-biblical.  No  one  would  think  of  getting  an 
adequate  conception  of  an  oak  who  confines  his  study  to  the  acorn.  Nor 
can  any  one  get  an  idea  of  the  tremendous  forces  latent  in  the  church  of 
the  Old  Testament  and  the  New  who  does  not  follow  their  subsequent 
unfoldings  in  human  history.  If  this  course  shall  help  teachers  and 
pupils  better  to  understand  the  organization  and  task  of  the  Modem 
Church,  and  to  see  and  seize  the  magnificent  opportunities  for  noble 
service  presented  by  it,  the  end  for  which  it  has  been  prepared  will  be 
amply  realized. 


THE   SENIOR   TEACHER 

An  Aid  in  Teaching  the  Course  on 
THE  MODERN  CHURCH 


Lesson  1.    THE  MODERN  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.     To  develop  an  intelligent  interest  in  and  loyalty 

to  the  Sunday  school. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

Read  carefully  the  notes  in  the  Quarterly  so  as  to  be  able  to  give  brief  but 
intelligent  answers  to  the  questions  on  the  lesson.  Copious  information 
on  the  history  of  religious  education  from  the  Old  Testament  times  to  the 
present  day  is  given  in  Cope's  Evolution  of  the  Sunday  School.  On  the  impor- 
tance of  the  Sunday  school  in  its  relation  to  the  church  an  impressive  state- 
ment is  given  in  Mead's  Modern  Methods  in  Sunday  School  Work,  ch.  II, 
"The  Strategic  Work  of  the  Church." 

The  teacher  should  make  especial  efforts  to  obtain  the  information  asked 
for  in  the  subjects  for  special  study  and  note-book  work.  The  teacher's 
example  in  this  matter  will  go  far  toward  helping  the  class  to  see  the  impor- 
tance of  it.  The  questions  for  class  discussion  should  be  carefully  thought 
out  so  as  to  lead  to  definite  results. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  It  is  usually  much  better  to  make  the  assignments 
for  the  next  session  at  the  beginning  of  the  class  hour  than  during  the  hurried 
moments  at  its  close.  Call  attention  to  the  vital  importance  of  the  subject 
to  be  considered  in  the  next  lesson,  and  show  that  the  emphasis  laid  on  grading 
pupils  and  lessons  marks  one  of  the  chief  steps  of  progress  in  the  present  day 
Sunday  school. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  These  should  be  used  not  so  much  for  class 
drill  as  for  fixing  in  mind  the  leading  points  in  the  Lesson  Notes.  Encourage 
the  members  of  the  class  to  write  brief  answers  to  these  questions  in  the 
Quarterlies.  If  this  is  done,  they  may  be  passed  over  rapidly  in  the  class, 
so  that  more  time  can  be  given  to  the  discussion. 

The  teachers  should  be  especially  solicitous  that  every  member  of  the  class 
shall  get  a  clear  conception  of  the  purpose  of  the  modem  Sunday  school  as 
stated  in  Note  4.    The  following  statement  may  also  be  helpful: 

"The  Sunday  school  is  an  educational  institution,  meeting  once  a  week, 
under  the  direction  of  the  church,  engaged  in  teaching  religious  truth  and 

1 


2  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

training  in  Christian  character  and  service." — Cope:  Modern  Sunday  School 
in  Principle  and  Practice y  p.  31. 

The  Note-book  Work.  Call  for  the  results  of  the  personal  study  given 
by  the  members  of  the  class  to  their  'own  school.  See  that  these  results  are 
written  down  in  the  note-books,  with  such  other  information  and  suggestions 
as  may  have  come  to  the  students  in  their  investigations.  Compare  and 
discuss  the  results. 

The  Questions  for  Class  Discussion.  These  will  usually  present  the  most 
practical  parts  of  the  lesson — the  application  of  the  whole  matter  to  those 
conditions  and  interests  which  lie  nearest  to  the  members  of  the  class  and 
respecting  which  they  should  feel  some  sense  of  personal  responsibility. 
AU  the  time  that  is  possible  should  be  saved  for  this  discussion,  and  free  use 
should  be  made  of  the  facts  gathered  by  the  study  of  the  local  school. 

(i)  The  first  question  points  to  the  fact  that  while  the  Christian  church 
has  never  entirely  lost  sight  of  the  importance  of  religious  teaching,  yet, 
since  the  early  centuries,  or  since  the  church  had  freedom  to  maintain  public 
worship,  a  disproportionate  emphasis  has  been  put  on  preaching  as  though 
it  were  the  chief  if  not  sole  means  of  keeping  the  people  in  sympathy  with 
religious  truth  and  obedient  to  religious  requirements. 

"Christianity,  following  in  the  footsteps  of  Judaism,  was  fundamentally 
a  teaching  religion.  Christ  and  the  Apostles,  no  less  than  Moses  and  the 
prophets,  paid  small  attention  to  abstract  theology,  but  expressed  their 
creeds  in  laws  and  rules  of  conduct.  Out  of  the  synagogues,  cathedrals  and 
monasteries  came  the  first  schools  and  the  great  universities,  and  out  of  the 
church  came  Alcuin,  Erasmus,  Abelard,  Comenius,  Froebel,  Pestalozzi,  and 
many  others  to  whom  secular  education  owes  its  basic  ideas. 

"  By  its  eighteenth-century  rejection  of  the  Sunday  school,  the  Church 
admitted  complete  departure  from  the  ancient  standards.  Christianity  was 
a  teaching  religion  no  longer,  but  a  preaching  religion.  Listeners,  not  learners, 
were  desired." — Creel:  Everybody's  Magazine,  October,  1911,  p.  471. 

Furthermore,  since  adults  are  more  entertained  by  oratory  than  by  pains- 
taking study,  and  since  adults  provide  the  means  for  carrying  on  reHgious 
worship,  they  are  in  a  position  to  prescribe  a  form  of  worship  more  agreeable 
to  their  own  tastes  than  to  the  needs  of  the  children. 

{2)  The  second  question  calls  attention  to  the  duty  of  the  church  to  sus- 
tain and  strengthen  the  Sunday  school  by  every  means  in  her  power.  Instead 
of  giving  grudgingly  to  its  support,  while  maintaining  other  activities  often  at 
great  cost,  the  church  should  awake  to  the  fact  that  in  her  present  social 
relations  her  very  existence  depends  more  than  ever  on  lifting  the  teaching 
fimction  into  at  least  equal  importance  with  preaching. 

"The  church  of  the  future  is  the  child  of  to-day!  I  sometimes  go  into  beauti- 
ful vineries  on  an  ocean  island,  and  I  have  marvelled  as  I  have  looked  upon 
sturdy,  strong  peach  trees  growing  fiat  against  a  wall,  spreading  out  like  the 
leaf  of  a  great  palm.    How  came  this  peculiar  and  beautiful  growth?    It  was 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  2  3 

so  trained  when  a  mere  twig;  when  young  and  pHant,  the  nature  of  its  growth 
was  determined  by  the  hands  that  tended  and  guided  it.  And  such  deter- 
mining growth  is  quite  as  possible  of  people  as  of  trees.  What  stronger 
testimony  of  the  value  of  early  religious  training  and  of  the  value  of  the 
Sunday  school  is  possible  than  the  fact,  namely,  that  83%  of  all  who  come  into 
the  communicant  membership  of  churches  come  from  the  Sunday  schools?  Yet, 
when  the  Sunday  school  was  first  organized,  men  said,  'It  will  kill  the  church.' 
The  very  opposite  is  true.  It  has  saved  the  church;  but  for  the  Sunday  school 
we  would  have,  humanly  speaking,  no  church  to-day.  Now  it  is  incontro- 
vertible, it  is  absolute,  a  statement  that  admits  no  question  or  shadow  of 
doubt,  that  if  we  truly  nurture  the  children  to-day,  we  have  secured  the 
church  of  to-morrow;  that  if  we  truly  train  the  child,  we  have  saved  to  himself 
and  to  God  the  growing  man!  .   .  . 

"Our  youth  are  sure  to  meet  with  temptations  in  their  most  insidious  forms 
the  minute  they  cross  the  threshold  of  the  home  or  of  the  church  into  the  world; 
the  best  and  only  service  we  can  render,  therefore,  is  to  fortify  them  against 
temptation;  and  to  render  such  service  we  must  do  the  utmost  possible  for 
the  estabHshment  of  faith  and  character,  both  in  the  home  and  in  the  church ; 
if  the  home  fails  to  do  its  part,  the  church  dare  not  fail  in  doing  her  part;  the 
neglect  of  the  one  but  increases  the  responsibility  of  the  other." — Mead: 
Modern  Methods  in  Sunday  School  Work.  pp.  20,  23. 

(5)  The  third  question  calls  attention  to  the  value  of  the  Sunday  school 
collections  considered  from  the  financial  or  the  educational  point  of  view. 
Ordinarily  this  collection  is  so  small  that,  so  far  from  enriching  the  church, 
it  barely  pays  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  school.  Rightly  considered 
its  chief  value  consists  in  establishing  in  early  life  a  habit  of  systematic  giving 
for  the  promotion  of  rehgious  work.  Such  a  habit,  if  formed  in  childhood 
and  youth,  will  strengthen  with  advancing  years  and  will  tend  to  develop 
church  members  who  feel  some  responsibility  for  the  financial  interests  of 
Christ's  kingdom. 


Lesson    2.    WHY    PUPILS    AND    LESSONS    SHOULD    BE 

GRADED. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  lead  the  class  to  think  of  the  Sunday  school  as 
a  school. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

In  addition  to  the  Lesson  Notes,  which  should  be  studied  carefully,  further 
information  along  these  lines  will  be  found  in  Cope's  The  Modern  Sunday 
School  in  Principle  and  Practice,  in  Coe's  Education  in  Religion  and  Morals, 
first  part,  and  in  Haslett's  Pedagogical  Bible  School,  pp.  87-203. 

Continue  the  study  of  the  local  school  along  the  lines  indicated  in  the 
subjects  for  note-book  work.  In  answering  the  question,  "To  what  extent 
is  your  school  graded?"  the  teacher  should  first  have  a  clear  idea  of  what 


4  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

constitutes  a  graded  school.  A  school  is  not  graded  when  the  classification 
aims  at  nothing  more  than  keeping  pupils  of  approximately  the  same  age  in 
the  same  classes,  and  in  supplying  them  with  such  lesson  leaflets  or  quarterlies 
as  the  whim  of  teachers  or  pupils  may  dictate.  A  school  is  graded  when  it 
contains  kindergarten  or  beginners',  primary,  jimior,  intermediate,  senior, 
and  adult  departments  or  some  definite  equivalent  system,  each  department 
provided  with  lesson  material  carefully  adjusted  to  the  mental  development 
and  religious  needs  of  the  pupils  therein.  A  still  more  complete  gradation 
is  obtained  where  Sunday  schools  are  in  position  to  adopt  the  several  grades 
recognized  in  public  schools.  You  might  have  your  pupils  find  out  how  many 
day-school  grades  are  represented  in  each  Sunday  school  class. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  From  a  study  of  the  reasons  why  pupils  and  lessons 
should  be  graded  the  class  will  naturally  pass  in  the  next  lesson  to  a  con- 
sideration of  the  leading  lesson  system  in  vogue  at  the  present  time  and  of 
the  principles  on  which  a  completely  graded  curriculum  should  be  constructed. 

Encourage  the  members  of  the  class  to  continue  the  study  of  their  own 
school  as  suggested  in  the  subjects  for  special  study  and  note-book   work. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  In  considering  the  grading  of  pupils  (Notes 
1,  2)  point  out  that  the  three  main  divisions  of  the  school  are  indicated  by 
the  three  main  divisions  of  human  life.  These  are  "(a)  Childhood,  the  period 
of  subjection  and  receptivity;  {b)  Youth,  the  period  of  awakening  powers, 
struggle,  and  determination;  (c)  Manhood,  the  period  of  developed  powers, 
experience,  and  usefulness."— Co/)g.  A  closer  study  of  the  changing  functions, 
interests,  and  capacities  during  childhood  and  youth  shows  that  within  these 
greater  di\nsions  account  must  be  taken  of  others  less  striking  but  scarcely 
less  important. 

In  showing  the  need  of  graded  lessons,  emphasize  the  fact  that  education 
is  productive  of  the  best  results  only  when  it  is  based  on  methods  of  instruc- 
tion suggested  by  the  tendencies  characteristic  of  each  period  of  personal 
growth.  This  is  especially  important  during  that  plastic  stage  where  funda- 
mental moral  habits  are  being  built  up,  and  when  training  in  truth,  honesty, 
modesty,  courtesy  and  other  virtues  is  initiated.  It  is  in  the  Sunday  school 
rather  than  in  the  day  school  that  moral  standards  receive  that  emotional 
coloring  which  religion  supplies,  and  without  which  they  lose  much  of  their 
power.  The  Sunday  school,  therefore,  should  stand  in  the  front  rank  among 
institutions  whose  efficiency  depends  on  the  employment  of  sound  educational 
methods. 

The  Note-book  Work.  Examine  and  grade  the  note-books  each  week, 
keeping  a  record  of  the  grades,  and  encourage  the  pupils  to  give  free  expres- 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  2  5 

sion  to  the  results  of  their  personal  study  of  their  Sunday  school  and  to  any 
conclusions  they  may  reach  as  to  its  organization. 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.  What  can  our  Sunday  school  learn 
from  the  day  schools? 

"To  transfer  to  the  church  school  the  set  of  grades  now  prevailing  in  the 
public  schools  ...  is  a  simple,  practicable  scheme,  and  it  has  the  advantage 
of  externally  representing  to  both  the  child  and  the  teacher  the  unity  of 
education." — Coe:  Education  in  Religion  and  Morals,  p.  292. 

These  grades  can  be  transferred,  if  need  be,  without  interfering  with  the 
departmental  divisions  already  mentioned. 

"The  processes  of  the  pubHc  school  come  very  close  to  classifying  the  children 
exactly,  grading  them  as  they  do  on  general  capacity  and  ability.  A  fairly 
good  working  basis  for  Sunday  school  classification  is  found  m  the  grade  of 
the  child  in  the  public  school.  It  has  the  advantage  of  strengthening  the 
sense  of  harmony,  orderliness,  and  unity — all  important  to  the  child — when 
he  finds  the  same  classification  and  general  arrangement  in  the  Sunday  school 
as  in  the  other  school.  Of  course  some  modifications  of  gradation  are  necessary, 
owing  to  the  latter  school  covering  a  longer  period  of  life. 

"Since  the  Sunday  schools  have,  as  yet,  no  commonly  recognized  standards 
of  Biblical  knowledge,  graded  schools  will  receive  from  the  ungraded,  and 
from  those  graded,  also,  students  of  varying  attainments;  and,  since  there 
will  always  be  objection  to  purely  intellectual  tests,  the  advantage  of  grading 
and  promoting  on  public  school  grades  is  evident.  It  is  well  to  hold  examina- 
tions in  the  subjects  which  have  been  taught;  it  is  well  also,  to  give  the  scholar 
credit  for  regular  attendance,  for  deportment,  and  for  other  items,  and  to 
make  these  credits  count  on  his  school  standing.  But  do  not  attempt  to 
promote  on  the  basis  of  these  markings,  or  you  may  shortly  have  confusion 
beyond  remedy.  On  some  certain  Sundays  of  each  year  promote,  with  appro- 
priate exercises,  every  pupil  according  to  his  pubHc  school  grade.  At 
the  same  time  you  may  award  certificates,  or  'diplbmas,'  to  those  who,  by 
faithful  work  or  regular  attendance,  have  earned  over  a  certain  percentage 
of  credits.  Let  these  'diplomas,'  or  'honors,'  as  some  call  them,  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  promotion  of  the  pupil;  make  them,  however,  things 
highly  desirable  on  account  of  the  honor  they  confer  in  their  awarding. 

"Promoting  the  pupils  as  they  make  progress  through  the  pubhc  school, 
and  on  their  graduation  therefrom,  regularly  advancing  them  every  year 
a  class  or  grade,  keeps  the  groups  of  pupils  together  through  all  their  Sunday 
school  life." — Cope:  The  Modern  Sunday  School,  pp.  66-69. 

"The  church  school  is  not  blindly  to  copy  the  methods  of  pubHc  schools. 
On  the  contrary  it  must  be  on  its  guard  against  some  of  the  errors  into  which 
they  have  fallen.  Our  public  schools  have  unquestionably  suffered  from  over- 
emphasis on  formal  discipHne,  on  mere  mental  drill  apart  from  culture  of  the 
emotions  and  strengthening  of  character.  No  man  wants  to  see  the  Sunday 
school  made  a  mere  engine  for  the  inculcation  of  historical  facts  however 
sacred.  A  list  of  Biblical  dates  is  no  more  nourishing  there  than  a  list  of 
similar  dates  in  Chinese  history.  Some  of  the  wars  of  Israel  may  be  of  hardly 
more  significance  than  the  feuds  of  the  ancient  Saxon  tribes.  The  Sunday 
school  is  fully  justified  in  insisting  that  something  more  than  the  conveyance 
of  knowledge  is  the  object  of  teaching.  The  day  school  may  learn  much 
from  the  steadfast  adherence  of  the  Sunday  school  to  the  creation  of  ideals 


6  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

as  well  as  the  impartation  of  facts.  A  barren  intellectualism  has  some- 
times made  the  public  schools  rigid  and  remote  from  life.  The  Sunday  school 
is  quite  right  in  seeking  to  touch  the  springs  of  lofty  aspiration  and  produce 
a  strong  and  noble  character.  But  the  way  to  do  this  most  effectively  is  by 
sharply  differentiating  the  Sunday  school  from  all  services  whose  primary 
aim  is  worship,  or  fellowship,  or  exhortation,  and  making  it,  from  opening 
bell  to  closing  hymn,  a  genuine  school." — Faunce:  The  Educational  Ideal  in 
the  Ministry,  pp.  204,  205. 


Lesson  3.    LESSON  SYSTEMS  OF  THE  PRESENT  DAY. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  make  the  pupil  acquainted  with  the  origin  and 
comparative  value  of  the  leading  systems  of  Sunday  school  lessons  now  in 
use. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

Read  the  Lesson  Notes  attentively,  and  supplement  them  with  such  other 
reading  as  may  be  available.  The  discussion  in  Cope's  Evolution  of  the  Sunday 
School,  pp.  101-125,  will  be  found  especially  helpful.  A  little  inquiry  might 
lead  to  the  discovery  of  one  of  the  older  catechisms.  It  would  give  a  good  idea 
of  the  mental  and  spiritual  food  provided  for  children  during  the  earlier  part 
of  the  last  century.  Note  the  leading  characteristics  of  the  lesson  systems 
in  use  at  the  present  time.  The  Completely  Graded  Series  of  the  Bible  Study 
Union  Lessons  is  described  at  greater  length  than  the  rest,  merely  as  an  example 
of  a  system  that  has  been  carefully  worked  out  in  conformity  with  educational 
and  psychological  requirements.  It  would  be  helpful  if  the  teacher  would 
send  to  the  publishers  of  these  lessons  for  enough  copies  of  Professor  Coe's 
"Core  of  Good  Teaching"  to  go  around  the  class.  They  will  be  sent  free  of 
charge. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  No  lesson  system,  however  perfect,  can  dispense  with 
special  training  on  the  part  of  those  who  teach  it.  Sunday  schools  have  so 
long  been  forced  to  get  along  with  teachers  without  special  equipment  that  it 
has  almost  been  taken  for  granted  that  little  else  than  willingness  and  con- 
secration is  required.  Happily  Sunday  schools  are  fast  awakening  to  the 
importance  of  providing  for  their  teachers  as  liberal  training  as  circumstances 
will  permit.  Our  next  lesson  presents  a  study  of  what  is  now  being  done  in 
this  direction. 

As  a  special  assignment  the  teacher  might  ask  some  member  of  the  class 
to  report  on  the  third  subject  for  special  study — "What  is  your  State  Sunday 
School  Association,  denominational  or  interdenominational,  doing  to  lift  the 
standard  of  teaching?"     In  either  case  the  State  Secretary  would  be  glad  to 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  3  7 

give  needed  information.      Send  to  the  International  Sunday  School  Associa- 
tion, Chicago,  for  a  circular  on  Teacher  Training. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.     1-S  are  answered  in  the  Lesson  Notes. 

(^  6)  Very  little  time  need  be  spent  in  pointing  out  the  defects  of  the  imi- 
form  lesson  system.  It  would  be  better  to  emphasize  the  good  purposes  it  has 
served. 

{6-9)  In  discussmg  the  leading  graded  lesson  systems  now  in  use  show 
sharply  how  they  differ  from  the  uniform  system,  and  point  out  some  of  the 
distinctive  features  in  each  case. 

{10)  "Since  many  schools  are  entering  on  the  selection  of  graded  lessons,  it 
will  be  well  to  note  the  principles  on  which  a  graded  Sunday  school  curricu- 
lum should  be  constructed.  The  first  principle  is  the  needs  of  the  moral  and 
religious  nature  of  the  pupils.  This  means  that  we  must  study  the  religious 
impulses,  nature,  aspirations,  and  ideas  of  the  pupils  in  the  different  ages  and 
stages  of  their  growth,  in  order  to  know  what  to  teach  them  at  a  given  time. 
Since  the  Sunday  school  is  set  for  the  moral  and  religious  education  of  the 
pupil,  only  such  subjects  as  deal  with  the  moral  and  religious  aspects  of  hfe 
should  find  a  place  in  the  curriculum — this  is  the  second  principle.  It  follows 
that  the  Bible  is  the  chief  source  for  materials  in  the  formation  of  Sunday 
school  lessons.  'The  tradition  that  has  made  the  Sunday  school  in  large  part 
a  Bible  school,  rests  upon  a  sound  basis.  Christianity  has  its  roots,  historically, 
in  the  Bible,  and  in  no  small  ^  measure  experimentally  also.  The  instinct  of 
the  church  has  been  wholly  right  in  giving  the  Bible  a  central  place  in  its 
school. '  But  there  are  other  subjects  which  deal  with  the  moral  and  religious 
aspect  of  life,  such  as  church  history.  Christian  evidences,  ethics,  and  methods 
of  religious  work,  which  should  have  a  place  in  a  well-construct  d  graded 
curriculum. 

_  "  The  third  principle  is  that  the  graded  lessons  should  be  based  on  a  true 
view  of  the  Bible.  '  The  construction  of  a  curriculum  does  not  presuppose 
the  knowledge  of  all  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  but  it  is  demanded  that  those 
who  are  to  arrange  the  curriculum  shall  have  as  a  prerequisite  to  the  perform- 
ance of  their  work  a  knowledge  of  the  several  contents  of  the  Bible,  and 
a_ sound  view  of  what  the  Bible  is.  Indeed,  it  is  only  upon  the  basis  of  some 
view  of  the  Bible  as  a  whole  that  one  can  make  intelligent  choice  between  the 
graded  and  ungraded   curricula. 

"  The  fourth  principle  is  that  the  graded  lessons  should  be  positive  and 
constructive  in  their  make-up,  especially  for  the  younger  departments.  The 
life  of  the  pupil  is  a  gro  vving  life.  Our  aim  is  to  help  on  these  processes  [through 
training  in]  Christian  character,  and  brotherly  service.  Nothing  should  enter 
into  the  studies  that  does  not  make  ultimately  for  these  ends. 

"  The  last  principle  which  should  be  considered  in  the  construction  of  graded 
lessons  is  the  comprehensiveness.  It  must  include  all  the  essentials  of  religious 
knowledge  and  religious  training.  The  whole  period  of  divine  revelation  to 
man  in  its  varied  interests  and  activities  and  operations  should  be  covered. 
In  other  words,  the  system  of  graded  lessons  should  provide  a  complete  religious 
training  for  the  pupils  in  our  Sunday  schools." — Condensed  from  Mussel- 
man:  The  Sunday  School  Teacher's  School,  pp.  92-94. 

The  Question  for  Discussion.  Why  should  a  course  of  Sunday  school  study 
include  other  subjects  than  the  Bible? 


8  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

"  It  is  evident  that  in  order  that  the  curriculum  of  the  school  may  be  com- 
prehensive, it  must  include  many  subjects  which  could  not  properly  be  taught 
in  the  course  of  the  usual  instruction  in  the  Bible.  These  subjects  would  in- 
clude church  history,  Christian  institutions,  evidences,  missions,  social  service, 
practical  ethics,  and  Christian  biography.  The  reasons  for  what  are  some- 
times called  '  extra-bibHcal  '  studies  in  the  Sunday  school  must  be  clearly 
understood.  Among  the  reasons  are:  such  studies  are  evidently  necessary 
to  full  equipment  for  life  and  service;  these  studies  are  not  treated  as  such  in 
the  Bible,  nor  do  they  properly  grow  out  of  the  study  of  the  Bible  from  the 
view  point  of  literature,  history,  or  doctrine.  This  is  most  evident  in  the  case 
of  church  history;  but  it  may  be  questioned  in  the  case  of  practical  ethics, 
until  examination  suggests  that  there  are  many  problems  in  practical  ethics 
to-day  on  which  the  Bible  has  nothing  directly  to  say,  for,  while  it  does  give 
the  great  fundamental  principles,  it  does  not  develop  their  application  to 
conditions  which  have  arisen  in  more  recent  times.  Again,  these  studies  are 
not  commonly  taken  in  any  other  institution ;  to  follow  them  in  the  Sunday 
school  gives  unit}^  completeness,  and  a  unique  value  to  the  work  of  the  school, 
and  gives  to  the  scholar  adequate  development  in  knowledge  and  equipment 
for  service. 

"  It  is  worth  while  to  note  that  in  an  important  sense  these  studies  are  not 
extra-bibhcal;  they  are  the  normal  developments  in  our  times  of  the  rehgious 
life  and  spirit  portrayed  in  the  Bible;  they  are  based  on  the  Bible,  and  are, 
indeed,  essential  to  a  full  understanding  of  its  content  and  its  relation  to  our 
life  to-day,  in  order  that  the  Bible  may  not  appear  to  be  the  subject  of  recondite 
inquiry  alone,  but  may  be  vital  and  practical." — Cope:  The  Modern  Sunday 
School  in  Principle  and  Practice,  pp.  131,  132. 


Lesson  4.    THE  TRAINING  OF  TEACHERS. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.    To  stimulate  interest  in  teacher  training  in  this 
school. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

Read  all  the  Lesson  Notes  so  as  to  get  a  general  survey  of  their  contents 
before  studying  them  in  detail.  Supplement  this  information  by  further 
reading  along  parallel  lines.  Religious  education  in  Bibhcal  times  is  treated 
in  recent  Bible  dictionaries  under  "  Education."  The  chapter  on  "  The 
Evolution  of  the  Teacher  "  in  Cope's  Evolution  of  the  Sunday  School  gives 
a  concise  account  of  what  has  been  done  in  this  line  until  the  present  time. 
A  Hst  of  valuable  books  for  the  Teachers'  Library  is  given  at  the  end  of  the 
same  volume.  A  brief  but  exceedingly  helpful  discussion  is  given  in  Pro- 
fessor Coe's  The  Core  of  Good  Teaching.  Sent  free  of  charge  by  Charles  Scrib- 
ner's  Sons,  N.  Y.  Chapter  XVIII  in  Cope's  Modern  Sunday  School  discusses 
the  essential  points  that  need  be  considered  in  training  the  working  forces. 
Valuable  suggestions  respecting  the  Teachers'  Library  are  also  given  in  Mead's 
Modern  Methods  in  the  Sunday  School,  pp.  226-228. 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  J+  9 

TEACHIIfG    THE    LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  One  of  the  most  convincing  proofs  of  the  importance 
now  attached  to  the  Sunday  school  as  a  means  of  religious  education  is  the 
variety  of  interests  receiving  attention,  and  the  many  new  ways  in  which  the 
activities  of  the  young  and  old  are  enlisted  for  Christian  service.  Some  of 
these  will  be  noticed  in  the  next  lesson. 

As  a  special  assignment  ask  some  member  of  the  class  to  present  a  brief 
sketch  of  the  Adult-Class  movement.  For  information  see  ch.  XVII  in 
Cope's  Modern  Sunday  School.  Helpful  literature  may  be  obtained  by  address- 
ing the  Cook  County  Sunday  School  Association,  140  Dearborn  St.,  Chicago. 
See  Wood:  Adult  Class,  Pilgrim  Press,  Boston. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  (1)  Point  out  that  among  the  Jews  in 
Christ's  time  religion  and  education  were  closely  combined;  that  the  teachers 
had  received  professional  training  and  were  doubtless  paid  for  their  work; 
that  in  this  respect  the  Jews  in  this  country  are  far  ahead  of  Christians,  since 
a  large  number  of  synagogues  wiU  employ  none  but  trained  and  salaried 
teachers;  and  that  such  a  system,  however  desirable,  is  at  present  imprac- 
ticable in  almost  all  Christian  schools  for  lack  of  means. 

(2-4)  These  questions  are  answered  in  the  notes. 

(5)  These  facts  stated  by  Marion  Lawrance  at  the  International  Conven- 
tion in  San  Francisco  in  1911  may  be  of  interest. 

"  The  growth  of  Teacher  Training  during  the  last  nine  years  is  indicated 
by  the  following:  At  the  Denver  Convention  in  1902  we  reported  one  per- 
son out  of  111  of  the  officers  and  teachers  in  North  America  as  enrolled  in 
a  Teacher  Training  class;  at  Toronto  in  1905  the  proportion  was  one  to  64; 
at  Louisville  in  1908  it  was  one  in  20;  and  now  it  is  one  in  12."— Official 
Report  of  the  Thirteenth  International  Sunday  School  Convention,  p.  123. 

(6)  In  addition  to  the  personal  qualifications  mentioned  in  Note  3,  which 
are  indispensable,  there  are  others  almost  equally  necessary  in  the  make-up 
of  a  successful  teacher.  These  are  tact,  patience,  understanding  of  human 
nature,  sympathy  with  and  love  for  the  pupils.  While  it  is  true  that  the  highest 
type  of  teacher  is,  Uke  the  poet,  born  and  not  made,  yet  it  is  also  true  that 
moderate  natural  ability  with  a  fair  amount  of  training  can  make  a  good  teacher. 

{7-9)  Answered  in  the  notes. 

(10)  Every  school  should  maintain  one  or  more  normal  classes,  "  pref- 
erably in  the  adult  division  [or,  perhaps  better  still,  in  the  senior  department], 
in  which  persons  shall  receive  instruction  in  whatever  parts  of  religious  truth 
(including  history,  geography,  literature,  etc.)  may  be  necessary  to  niake  up 
for  the  deficiencies  of  the  regular  school  course,  and  also  receive  training  in 
the  special  methods  of  Sunday  school  administration,  teaching,  etc.  Let  this 
class  or  these  classes  meet  on  Sunday,  under  the  direction  of  a  competent  peda- 
gog.  Set  before  you  the  end  of  making  this  course,  or  an  equivalent,  necessary, 
required  of  those  who  would  teach  or  hold  executive  office.  Let  the  class  follow 
carefully,  not  with  haste,  a  regular  course  of  teacher  training  lessons.     On 


10  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

completion  of  this  course,  award  certificates  or  diplomas  and  give  special 
emphasis  to  the  public  recognition  of  the  work  of  the  graduates,  making  the 
occasion  such  as  will  impress  others  with  the  importance  of  such  training  and  will 
serve  to  show  that  the  school  is  endeavoring  to  do  its  work  in  a  worthy  manner. 
"  It  is  worth  while  to  maintain  such  a  class  as  this  even  though  the  number 
of  students  dwindles  down  to  one." — Cope:  The  Modern  Sunday  School  in 
Principle  and  Practice,  pp.  172,  173. 

The  Questions  for  Class  Discussion.  (!)  How  can  you  awaken  in  your 
church  such  a  sense  of  the  importance  of  reHgious  education  as  will  lead  to 
systematic  and  adequate  provision  for  teacher  training? 

"  May  I  tell  you  how  one  worker  in  this  field  has  undertaken  this  task, 
not  wholly  without  success?  Through  years  he  has  never  failed  to  make  the 
announcement  of  the  session  of  the  school  the  first  and  most  emphatic  of  all 
given  from  the  pulpit.  He  secured  the  appropriation  of  adequate  funds  for 
the  support  of  the  school  by  a  formal  vote  of  the  parish,  at  its  annual  meeting, 
and  in  amount  reaching  in  four  years  eight-fold  that  at  first  given.  He  in- 
duced the  same  annual  gathering  to  elect  all  the  officers  and  teachers  of  the 
school  that  they  might  know  themselves  supported  by  and  accountable  to 
the  governing  body.  The  public  and  solemn  installation  of  these  officers  and 
teachers  naturally  followed;  for  if  the  class  is  a  parish,  why  should  not  the 
teacher-pastor  be  inducted  into  his  sacred  office  with  some  of  the  solemnity 
with  which  the  pastor  of  the  church  is  installed?  Through  a  series  of  parerits' 
meetings  he  awakened  in  the  minds  of  fathers  and  mothers  a  sense  of  obligation 
for  the  religious  education  of  their  children,  and  toward  the  school  where,  and 
the  persons  through  whom,  that  education  was  to  be  secured.  Teachers' 
meetings  were  a  matter  of  course.  Finally  by  the  expedient  of  paying  the 
teachers  a  small  salary — a  sum  too  small  to  attract  the  mercenary,  but  enough 
to  bind  a  contract — it  became  possible  to  enter  into  a  written  agreement  with 
the  teachers.  In  this  agreement  it  was  provided  that  the  teachers  should 
attend  all  teachers'  meetings,  should  attend,  once  a  month,  a  lecture  on  the 
lessons  for  the  next  four  weeks,  should  prepare  carefully  for  the  class-work, 
not  only  by  the  use  of  the  regular  text-books  but  of  other  helps  provided  by  the 
school,  should  regard  the  duties  of  the  position  to  extend  beyond  the  class- 
room, and,  finally,  should  forfeit  one  dollar  for  each  absence  from  the  class,  for 
whatever  reason,  the  amount  thus  forfeited  going  to  the  substitute  teacher 
who  took  the  class.  This  rigid  agreement,  it  is  interesting  to  note,  the  teachers 
were  not  only  willing  but  eager  to  sign. 

"  As  a  result  of  these  efforts,  the  church  is  more  ready,  to-day,  to  vote  sup- 
port for  the  Sunday  school  than  for  any  other  cause;  the  school  is  supplied 
with  every  appliance  it  can  use;  the  enrollment  steadily  grows,  and  the  at- 
tendance averages  ninety  per  cent  of  the  membership;  parents  testify  that 
their  children  are  studying  their  lessons  as  never  before;  at  least  half  the 
teachers  employed  have  had  professional  training,  and  as  vacancies  occur  it 
is  now  possible  to  fill  these  with  trained  workers;  and  the  pastor  finds  under 
his  hand  a  school  of  religious  education  exceeding  in  firmness  and  efficiency 
his  fondest  dreams." — Wm.  I.  Lawrence,  in  Religious  Education,  vol.  v.  No. 
2,  pp.  144,  145. 

(^)  Is  special  teacher  training  a  practical  proposition  for  busy  laymen? 
Where  there's  a  will  there's  a  way.  No  one  ought  to  undertake  the  teaching 
of  a  class  in  the  Sunday  school  who  has  no  time  for  preparation.     No  one  would 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  5  11 

presume  to  do  so  in  a  public  school,  even  if  given  an  opportunity.  And  yet 
the  work  in  the  former  is  more  difficult  and  more  important.  One  who  really 
wishes  to  be  of  service  to  others  as  a  religious  teacher  will  find  time  to  acquire 
fitness  for  it.  The  best  answer  to  the  above  question  is  the  fact  that  thousands 
of  very  busy  men  and  women  are  now  taking  teacher  training  courses,  and 
that  the  number  is  constantly  increasing. 


Lesson  5.     NEW  TYPES  OF  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  WORK. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  awaken  interest  in  recent  methods  for  increasing 
the  usefulness  of  the  Sunday  school. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

Teachers  will  find  an  abundance  of  material  bearing  on  nearly  all  types  of 
Sunday  School  work  in  the  official  reports  of  the  Triennial  International 
Sunday  School  Conventions  for  1908  and  1911.  The  reports  on  progress 
embrace  the  most  recent  statistics,  and  the  discussions  and  addresses  cover 
the  matters  of  chief  interest  in  all  the  departments.  Littlefield's  Hand-work 
in  the  Sunday  School  is  the  standard  work  on  that  subject.  Cope's  chapter 
on  "  Manual  Methods  "  in  The  Modern  Sunday  School  in  Principle  and 
Practice  gives  a  very  helpful  summary.  The  subject  of  organized  adult 
classes  has  called  out  so  much  discussion  and  so  many  valuable  suggestions 
in  recent  Sunday  school  literature  that  the  teacher  should  experience  little 
difficulty  in  finding  ample  material.  Of  the  two  questions  for  class  discussion 
the  teacher  should  select  and  emphasize  that  which  seems  to  lie  closest  to 
the  interests  of  the  class. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 
The  Assignments.  The  next  lesson,  "  How  to  hold  the  Pupils,"  presents 
a  problem  of  vital  importance  to  every  Sunday  school.  Instead  of  one  special 
assignment  it  might  be  a  good  plan  to  ask  each  member  of  the  class  to  think 
out  some  solution  for  himself  in  view  of  local  conditions  as  he  sees  them,  and 
bring  the  result  in  a  written  or  oral  statement  as  a  contribution  to  the  class 
discussion. . 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {1-3,  5-9)  Sufficient  material  for  answering 
these  questions  is  given  in  the  Lesson  Notes. 

(4)  Hand-work,  as  well  as  lesson  material,  must  be  graded  to  the  ages  and 
varying  capacities  of  the  pupils.  "  In  the  primary  grades  up  to  the  ninth  year 
the  teaching  is  pre-eminently  story-telling.  The  truth  presented  is  picturesque, 
concrete,  and  in  large  wholes,  not  consecutive  or  abstract.  The  appeal  is 
to  the  imagination  and  the  senses.     Hand-work  will  have  to  do  with  the 


12  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

picturing  of  stories.  Narrative  work  may  be  done  in  the  third  grade,  but  in 
the  simplest  form.  For  the  rest  the  work  is  the  copying  of  titles  and  texts. 
The  possible  and  practical  forms  of  hand- work  for  little  children  are  the  hand- 
ling of  models,  picture  making  on  a  sand-table,  picture  pasting  and  coloring, 
drawing,  paper-tearing,  and  the  making  of  story  albums  with  pictures,  texts, 
drawings,  and  written  work. 

"  In  the  grammar  school  ages  history  work  is  taken  up  with  history  and 
geography.  History  and  geography  cannot  be  studied  in  the  Sunday  school 
profitably  until  a  few  months,  at  least,  after  the  day  schools  have  laid  the 
foundation  for  them.  By  the  tenth  year  this  will  have  been  done,  and  with 
the  making  up  of  these  studies  the  possibilities  of  hand- work  will  be  greatly 
extended.  As  the  s  holars  advance  in  age  the  forms  of  hand-work  and  the 
method  of  treatment  will  change.  Illustrative  work  will  lessen  and  give  place 
to  historical  and  analytical  work.  Historical  study  will  advance  from  the 
simplest  outlines  of  narration  to  the  philosophy  of  history  and  the  study  of 
the  development  of  the  literature.  Narrative  work  will  progress  through 
many  stages  from  the  lesson  story  to  compositions,  to  reports  and  thesis  work. 
This  progress  will  cover  a  period  of  years.  The  work  must  be  just  enough  to 
give  the  scholar  a  definite  task  without  demanding  too  much  time.  Finally, 
and  this  is  fundamental,  the  spiritual  aim  and  emphasis  must  never  be  over- 
looked."— Condensed  from  Littlefield:  Hand-work  in  the  Sunday  School,  pp. 
15-17. 

The  Questions  for  Class  Discussion.  {!)  Is  hand-work  likely  to  promote 
or  to  hinder  spiritual  impressions? 

"  A  question  which  constantly  arises  is  whether  the  emphasis  upon  activi- 
ties and  upon  the  externalities,  like  history  and  geography,  will  obscure  the 
spiritual  end.  Beyond  doubt  the  spiritual  aim  may  be  lost  in  the  handling 
of  materials.  It  also  may  be  lost  in  other  ways.  The  word  spiritual  does  not 
refer  to  the  subject  taught,  but  to  the  object  to  be  gained.  The  thing  we  teach 
is  life,  power,  liberty.  The  things  with  which  we  teach — words,  pictures, 
printer's  ink,  maps,  crayons,  sand  piles,  or  what  not — are  all  so  many  symbols 
of  truth  and  nothing  more,  and  no  one  of  these  things  is  more  sacred  than 
another.  The  spiritual  validity  of  hand- work  is  entirely  a  question  of  method. 
The  point  to  be  insisted  on  is  that  the  spiritual  element  in  teaching  is  neither 
less  nor  more  than  the  arousing  of  a  moral  impulse.  It  consists  in  so  presenting 
a  fact  as  to  spur  the  scholar  to  reproduce  that  fact  in  his  own  hfe,  and  all 
lines  of  approach  to  the  will,  all  methods  of  impression,  all  forms  of  expression 
are  equally  valid.  Hand-work  at  certain  ages  is  the  best  possible  method 
of  presenting  facts.  It  must  never  be  forgotten,  of  course,  that  presentation 
is  only  introductory  to  the  interpretation  of  the  facts,  and  at  every  step  the 
spiritual  significance  should  be  made  clear.  But  the  spiritual  meaning  is 
not  something  added  to  the  truth.  It  pervades  every  act.  The  moral  signifi- 
cance is  not  something  to  be  tacked  on  to  the  story  or  the  event.  It  is  the 
very  soul  of  the  story,  and  to  the  degree  that  it  is  tacked  on  it  is  lost." — 
Condensed  from  Littlefield:  Hand-work  in  the  Sunday  School,  pp.  111-113. 

{2)  How  can  the  social  life  of  an  adult  class  be  made  tributary  to  religious 
interest? 

"  There  are  three  advantages  [from  social  features]  which  if  guarded  and 
wisely  developed  will  result:  an  increase  of  membership,  the  counteracting 
of  worldly  amusements,  and  the  helping  of  young  men  and  women  to  marry 


The  Senior  Teacher^  Lesson  6  13 

and  have  Christian  homes.  Let  the  class  have  its  social  features,  but  let  them 
lead  to  the  Bible.  For  instance,  you  can  get  twenty  or  thirty  young  people 
to  go  to  a  picnic  whom  you  have  not  been  able  to  get  to  the  Bible  class.  The 
social  committee  will  invite  them  to  that  picnic  and  try  to  make  sure  that 
they  land  them.  When  they  get  there  there  should  be  a  dozen  men  who  have 
been  previously  warned.  The  first  man  to  take  charge  of  Mr.  Jones  for  the  first 
half  hour  will  talk  Bible  class  to  him,  and  then  turn  him  over  to  the  second 
man,  and  the  second  man  will  turn  him  over  to  the  third,  until  that  young 
man  has  been  in  the  hands  of  half  a  dozen  young  men,  with  the  result  that 
he  pledges  himself  to  join  the  class.    The  same  method  applies  to  sociables. 

"  Second,  I  know  a  pastor  who  said  at  the  beginning  of  his  pastorate: 
*  I  do  not  intend  to  preach  a  single  sermon  against  worldly  amusements, 
but  I  am  going  to  call  upon  you  to  provide  for  the  young  people  better  than 
the  world  can  give  them.'  They  went  to  work  and  fitted  up  the  basement, 
and  let  the  young  men  and  women  of  the  classes  understand  that  they  would 
have  something  there  they  would  not  get  at  the  opera  house.  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  attending  their  Baraca  banquet.  There  was  music,  recitations, 
short  talks,  and  a  banquet  indeed.  Finally  the  time  came  to  dismiss  them  and 
the  pastor  spoke  a  few  earnest  words  and  offered  prayer  for  God's  blessing 
on  the  young  people.  When  we  got  home  I  said:  '  What  was  the  purpose  of 
it  all?'  He  said:  '  Down  yonder  is  a  masked  ball,  but  my  young  people  were 
not  there.' 

"_My  third  point  is  that  I  want  to  see  the  social  features  of  our  classes  find 
their  fulfilment  in  the  marriage  of  our  young  people.  If  there  is  a  time  in 
life  when  young  people  need  to  fall  in  love  it  is  the  time  when  young  men  are 
in  young  men's  classes  and  young  women  in  young  women's  classes,  and  if 
there  is  a  basis  of  congeniality,  high  and  holy,  it  is  the  basis  that  we  find 
in  hand-to-hand  work  for  Jesus  Christ." — Condensed  from  address  by  Rev. 
L.  P.  Lea  veil  at  Louisville  Convention,  1908. 


Lesson  6.     GETTING  AND  HOLDING  THE  PUPILS. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  consider  how  to  make  the  Sunday  school  per- 
manently helpful  and  attractive  to  the  largest  number  that  can  be  won  into 
its  membership. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

Read  attentively  the  Lesson  Notes.  In  connection  with  Note  1  look 
over  the  preceding  lessons  for  further  suggestions  bearing  on  the  question 
of  making  the  school  of  such  value  to  its  members  that  they  will  feel  that 
they  are  getting  at  each  session  something  of  real  worth  and  interest.  Notes 
2  and  3  call  attention  to  some  of  the  more  common  methods  that  have  been 
found  useful  in  winning  and  retaining  members.  Follow  up  as  far  as  possible 
the  Additional  Reading  References.  The  subject  of  getting  and  holding 
pupils  has  been  discussed  ever  since  Sunday  school  became  a  recognized 
ineans  of  religious  education,  so  that  an  abundance  of  material  ought  to  be 


14  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

accessible.  Underlying  this  prolonged  discussion  there  are  a  few  simple 
principles  easily  understood,  and,  if  intelligently  applied,  productive  of  good 
results.  The  main  thing  to  be  remembered  is  that  no  amount  of  theory, 
however  admirable,  will  produce  a  thoroughly  good  school  without  hard 
work.  The  better  the  school,  the  more  the  work.  Officers  and  teachers 
must  put  time,  thought,  strength,  prayer,  and  contagious  enthusiasm  into 
it.  A  locomotive  will  not  move  without  steam  nor  a  Sunday  school  without 
a  large  consecration  of  human  power.  Since  the  question  for  class  discussion 
is  the  practical  culmination  of  the  lesson  the  teacher  should  make  a  careful 
study  of  the  suggestions  quoted  below  from  Marion  Lawrance. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  The  present  lesson  concludes  our  survey  of  the  work 
of  the  modem  Sunday  school.  The  school,  however,  is  only  one  means  by 
which  the  church  is  fulfilling  her  mission.  Another  is  preaching.  From  the 
earliest  times  this  has  been  the  chief  means  by  which  the  gospel  has  been 
made  known  to  men.  The  next  lesson  will  consider  The  Modem  Pulpit  and 
some  of  the  ways  by  which  its  influence  can  be  increased. 

As  a  special  assignment  some  member  of  the  class  might  be  requested  to 
get  from  the  pastor  the  subjects  of  his  sermons  for  the  last  three  months. 

Have  the  class  make  a  record  of  sermons  the  remainder  of  the  year. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  (1-3)  "  If  you  would  get  folks  and  hold 
them,  you  must  have  something  with  which  to  get  them  and  something  with 
which  to  hold  them — you  must  have  a  good  school.  Moreover,  the  school 
must  be  good  not  only  as  a  whole,  but  in  all  its  departments.  It  must  appeal 
to  all  classes.  If,  for  instance,  a  school  has  in  it  no  young  men,  it  may  be 
because  there  is  nothing  in  it  for  young  men.  So  with  boys  or  any  other  class. 
It  must  be  real  school.  It  must  employ  educational  principles  and  methods. 
It  must  have  real  teaching.  Also,  it  must  have  religion  in  it,  good  religion, 
genuine  religion.  Nothing  can  take  the  place  in  a  Sunday  school  of  religion. 
If  the  school  is  really  a  good  school,  the  members  will  believe  in  it  and  stick 
to  it  and  talk  for  it.  There  will  be  a  strong  school  spirit  that  will  make  the 
school  popular  and  powerful." — Condensed  from  Tralle,  in  The  Sunday 
School   Teacher's  School,  pp.  210,  211. 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.     How  can  your  class,  or  school,  get 

so  strong  a  hold  on  its  members  that  they  will  regard  an  absence  from  a  single 
session  as  a  personal  loss? 

"  Holding  the  members  is  really  the  test  of  organization.  The  percentage 
of  attendance  to  enrollment  indicates  the  thoroughness  in  this  direction. 
For  example,  it  is  better  to  have  an  average  attendance  of  five  hundred  out 
of  an  enrollment  of  seven  hundred,  than  it  is  to  have  an  average  attendance 
of  seven  hundred  out  of  an  enrollment  of  twelve  hundred.  In  the  first  in- 
stance the  percentage  of  attendance  to  enrollment  is  seventy-one  while  in 
the  other  it  is  but  fifty-eight.  We  labor  under  many  disadvantages.  It  is 
estimated  that  the  personnel  of  the  average  Sunday  school  changes  about 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  6  15 

twenty  to  twenty-five  per  cent  annually.  In  the  public  schools  the  scholars 
are  regular  because  they  must  be;  but  you  cannot  say  must  in  a  Sunday  school. 
The  power  to  hold  comes  from  another  source.  Membership  in  a  Sunday 
school  should  mean  something.    The  following  suggestions  will  be  helpful: 

"i.  Follow  up  Absentees.  It  ought  to  be  the  rule  of  every  school  that  no 
member  could  be  absent  a  single  Sunday  without  that  fact  being  noticed. 
There  should  be  so  much  system  in  this  matter  that  if  the  teacher  does  not 
look  up  the  absentee  somebody  else  will. 

"The  best  way  to  deal  with  an  absentee  is  by  a  personal  visit  from  the  teacher. 
The  teacher  is  better  here  than  the  pastor,  superintendent  or  church  visitor. 
His  visit  affords  him  one  of  the  choicest  opportunities  he  will  ever  have.  There 
is  the  chance  to  speak  the  personal  word  and  to  manifest  a  personal  interest. 
If  it  is  impossible  for  the  teacher  to  visit,  then  let  him  write  a  personal  letter. 
Do  not  send  a  postal  card.  A  printed  form  provided  by_  the  school  may  be 
sent  when  a  letter  cannot  be  written;  this  will  at  least  give  the  absentee  to 
understand  that  he  is  missed. 

"2.  Care  for  the  Sick.  That  would  be  a  strange  teacher  who  would  fail 
to  use  the  opportunity  afforded  of  coming  close  to  the  scholar  in  time  of 
sickness.  The  personal  visit,  carrying  some  flowers,  a  picture  card,  booklet, 
fruit,  or  indeed  anything  that  will  interest  or  please  the  scholar,  will  do  much 
to  win  his  heart.     [Have  pupils  also  visit  sick  pupils.] 

"3.  Write  Birthday  Letters.  This  will  strengthen  the  teacher's  hold  upon  the 
scholar  and  thus  reduce  the  number  of  absences.  Anything  that  can  be 
done  to  establish  the  teacher  in  the  confidence  and  affection  of  the  scholar 
will  do  much  toward  securing  regular  attendance. 

"4.  Give  Practical  Help.  Sometimes  scholars  are  absent  because  they 
need  suitable  clothing.  Help  judiciously  given  at  this  point  will  do  a  great 
deal  of  good.  Teachers  of  scholars  old  enough  to  work  should  know  what 
they  are  doing,  where  they  work  and  what  sort  of  work  they  can  do.  If  any 
are  out  of  a  position  one  of  the  best  ways  to  tie  them  up  permanently  to  the 
school  is  to  help  them  get  a  new  position.  Especially  is  this  true  of  classes 
of  working  young  men  and  women.  Many  classes  are  so  well  organized  that 
they  really  become  employment  bureaus  for  their  members. 

"5.  Make  the  School  a  Home.  I  know  of  no  power  so  effective  in  holding 
our  scholars  as  to  make  the  school  a  real  delight  to  all  who  attend.  Use  every 
effort  to  create  a  spirit  of  friendliness.  Call  the  school  a  family.  Refer  to 
absentees  as  causing  vacant  chairs  around  the  hearthstone.  When  any  scholar 
is  in  trouble  refer  to  it  as  trouble  that  has  come  to  the  family.  This  esprit 
de  corps  should  be  cultivated  all  the  time.  Our  own  church  is  referred  to  con- 
tinually as  '  Our  Church  Home.'  We  try  to  make  it  deserve  the  name.  Your 
members  must  be  made  to  feel  that  they  belong,  not  only  to  the  school  itself, 
but  to  all  who  attend  it." — Condensed  from  Lawrance:  How  to  Conduct 
a  Sunday  School,  pp.  125-128. 


16  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

Lesson  7.     THE  MODERN  PULPIT. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  show  the  work  of  the  modern  pulpit,  and  how 
to  derive  greater  benefit  from  it. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

After  reading  the  Lesson  Notes  make  a  furthe;  study  of  some  of  the  great 
sermons  reported  in  the  New  Testament.  Such  are  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
(Mt.,  chs.  5-7),  the  woes  upon  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  (ch.  23),  the  prophetic 
discourse  on  the  Mount  of  OHves  (chs.  24,  25),  Peter's  sermon  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost  (Acts,  ch.  2),  and  Paul's  discourses  on  Mars'  Hill  and  before  the 
people  in  the  temple  (Acts  18:22-31;  22:1-21).  Observe  that  they  differ 
from  modem  sermons  in  that  they  were  not  based  on  Scripture  texts,  in 
that  each  one  was  suggested  by  the  immediate  occasion,  and  in  that  no  one  of 
them  formed  a  part  of  any  public  or  formal  worship.  The  se  mon,  as  we  now 
know  it,  was  a  much  later  development. 

In  showing  the  place  of  the  preacher  in  the  Christian  church  recall  the  fact 
that  in  almost  every  instance  the  great  religious  leaders  in  every  age  have 
been  preachers.  Such  were  Origen,  Ambrose,  Augustine,  Chrysostom,  An- 
thony of  Padua,  Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  Bonaventura,  Savonarola,  Luther, 
Calvin,  Melanchthon,  Wiclif ,  Knox,  Jeremy  Taylor,  Baxter,  Bunyan,  Bossuet, 
Bourdaloue,  Fenelon,  Wesley,  Whitefield,  Robert  Hall,  Spurgeon,  Brooks, 
Beecher,  and  Moody.  Look  up  some  of  these  names  in  encyclopedias  and 
see  what  they  stand  for. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  From  a  study  of  the  modem  pulpit  one  passes  naturally 
to  a  consideration  of  public  worship  of  which  the  sermon  constitutes  a  more 
or  less  important  part.  What  public  worship  is  and  what  it  aims  to  accom- 
plish will  be  taken  up  in  the  next  lesson. 

A  special  assignment  to  some  member  of  the  class  which  would  be  likely 
to  create  general  interest  would  be  a  brief  statement  of  the  essential  differences 
between  Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic  public  worship. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  These  are  for  the  most  part  answered  suf- 
ficiently in  the  Lesson  Notes.  In  connection  with  question  3  it  might  be 
well  to  call  attention  to  some  social  changes  that  have  diminished  popular 
interest  in  preaching;  e.g.  Sunday  newspapers  and  Sunday  excursions.  The 
former  have  invaded  almost  all  homes,  with  the  result  that  in  many  cases 
the  entire  family  wastes  a  large  part  of  Sunday  in  mental  dissipation.  The 
latter  have  developed  in  connection  with  the  vast  growth  of  cities,  the  increased 
facilities  for  cheap  transportation,  and  a  general  desire  to  escape  for  a  few 
hours  from  crowded  tenements  into  the  open  air  of  the  country  or  the  seaside. 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  7  17 

The  Questions  for  Class  Discussion.  (/)  In  view  of  the  prevailing  con- 
ditions in  the  modem  world,  what  is  the  preacher's  task  to-day? 

"It  used  to  be  said,"  remarks  Dr.  Washington  Gladden,  "that  the 
chief  end  of  preaching  is  the  salvation  of  souls.  If  these  terms  are  rightly 
understood  no  fault  can  be  found  with  them.  A  soul  is  a  man;  and  there  can 
be  no  question  that  a  great  many  men  are  in  danger  of  being  lost,  and  that 
all  men  are  worth  saving.  The  preaching  that  saves  manhood — that  saves 
it  from  being  frittered  away  in  the  frivoHties  of  life;  from  being  consumed  by 
the  canker  of  avarice;  from  being  blasted  by  the  mildew  of  idleness;  from 
being  wrecked  on  the  breakers  of  passion;  from  being  enervated  by  luxury; 
from  being  crippled  by  the  creeping  paralysis  of  doubt,  is  a  kind  of  preaching 
which  the  world  will  always  need.  The  meaning  which  we  put  into  the  phrase 
is  thus  a  little  larger  than  that  which  it  once  carried;  for  once  it  signified  very 
little  more  than  getting  men  into  a  place  of  safety  after  death.  It  is  now 
pretty  generally  believed  that  if  a  man  is  saved  in  this  world  from  selfishness 
and  animaUsm,  and  hate,  and  pride,  and  all  the  other  evils  that  are  destroying 
his  manhood,  there  is  no  need  to  be  anxious  about  his  future  welfare;  while 
any  assurance  of  salvation  in  another  world  that  has  no  perceptible  influence 
upon  his  life  in  this  world  is  probably  delusive.  The  minister  is  preaching, 
then,  to  save  men — to  save  them  from  sin  and  sorrow  and  shame;  to  save 
them  from  losses  that  are  irreparable;  to  save  them  for  ives  of  honor  and 
nobility,  and  for  the  service  of  humanity.  The  longer  any  earnest  minister 
lives,  the  more  deeply  he  will  feel  the  need  of  such  preaching  as  this— the 
more  earnestly  will  he  long  for  the  power  to  speak  the  persuasive  word  which 
shall  turn  men  from  the  ways  of  death  into  the  paths  of  life. 

"  No  fault  can  be  found,  therefore,  with  the  statement  that  a  large  part 
of  the  preacher's  work  is  the  conversion  of  men.  That  has  been  the  mission 
of  preachers  and  prophets  from  the  beginning.  In  all  ages  they  have  been 
crymg  to  purbHnd  and  deluded  men,  '  Turn  ye,  turn  ye,  for  why  will  ye  die!' 
That  many  of  the  men  whom  the  preacher  addresses  from  week  to  week  are 
going  in  a  wrong  direction  is  a  palpable  fact;  it  is  his  business  to  show  them 
whither  their  steps  are  tending,  and  to  persuade  them  to  turn.  There  are  a 
great  many  people  in  all  our  congregations  for  whom  there  is  no  salvation 
but  in  a  complete  reversal  of  their  general  course  of  life;  and  the  squeamish- 
ness  which  withholds  from  them  this  salutary  truth  is  worthy  of  the  severest 
censure."— Gladden:  The  Christian  Pastor  and  the  Christian  Church,  pp. 
108,  109.  ^^ 

"  What  is  the  minister  to  teach?  If  the  pulpit  is  to  become  merely  an 
echo  of  the  professor's  chair,  if  the  Gospel  is  to  become  merely  diluted  sociology 
or  literary  criticism,  if  the  minister  is  to  be  a  mere  pedagogue,  then  indeed 
the  ministry  is  robbed  of  its  power  and  the  church  will  become  an  appendage 
of  the  college.  To  return  to  the  doctrinal  sermons  of  early  New  England,  to 
make  religion  a  mere  course  of  lessons  in  theology,  and  offer  dogmatism  in 
the  place  of  devotion  is  not  the  path  of  progress  to-day.  While  the  knowledge 
of  facts  is  important  in  religious  education,  the  supremely  important  elements 
are  ideals,  standards,  values.  The  great  task  of  the  minister  is  to  give  the 
people  an  abiding  sense  of  moral  and  spiritual  values,  to  make  them  realize 
what  IS  worth  while.  It  is  to  give  them  some  dominating  conception  of  life 
and  Its  meaning."— Condensed  from  Faunce:  The  Educational  Ideal  in  the 
Ministry,  pp.  22-24. 

The  essential  and  abiding  truths  of  the  gospel  stated  in  terms  acceptable 


18  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

to  one  age  may  be  wholly  unacceptable  to  another.  In  some  high  and  true 
sense  we  believe  that  the  Son  of  man  came  "  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many  " 
(Mt.  20  :  28) ;  but  no  one  would  venture  to  preach  to-day,  as  men  did  for  a 
thousand  years,  that  the  ransom  was  paid  to  Satan  who  found  himself  tricked 
by  a  bad  bargain,  since  he  was  imable  to  retain  the  Holy  One  in  his  power 
and  at  the  same  time  lost  his  hold  on  the  human  race.  Jonathan  Edwards' 
sermon  on  "  Sinners  in  the  Hands  of  an  Angry  God  "  produced  a  mighty 
revival  of  religion.  A  minister  some  years  ago,  also  anxious  for  a  revival  in 
his  church,  and  believing  that  the  end  justified  the  means,  preached  that 
sermon  to  his  people  in  the  hope  that  it  might  arouse  them  also,  and  it  did — 
to  demand  his  immediate  resignation. 

(2)  Do  you  believe  that  the  preacher  in  his  sermons  should  not  meddle  with 
politics? 

The  preacher,  as  a  citizen,  has  the  liberty  of  acting  with  any  political 
party  that  represents  his  opinions.  As  a  preacher  he  speaks  to  men  of  all 
parties,  and  cannot  become  a  partizan  without  damaging  his  influence  with 
those  who  are  opposed  to  him.  When  politics,  whether  national  or  party, 
involve  moral  issues  it  is  the  preacher's  manifest  duty  to  indicate  these,  not 
in  the  interest  of  one  side  or  the  other,  but  in  the  interest  of  universal  righteous- 
ness.    (See  Note  3,  in  Pupil's  Lesson.) 

(3)  How  far  should  the  preacher  direct  his  attention  to  questions  of  civic 
betterment? 

The  degree  of  attention  that  a  preacher  gives  to  questions  of  civic 
betterment  will  depend  largely  on  the  nature  of  his  parish.  In  some  places 
such  questions  are  pressing,  and  there  they  should  receive  such  emphasis 
that  all  men  may  know  that  the  church  is  the  impartial  friend  of  all  classes, 
and  that  the  salvation  she  preaches  means  the  highest  type  of  living  in  this 
world  as  well  as  in  the  next. 


Lesson  8.     PUBLIC  WORSHIP. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  show  the  nature  and  comparative  worth  of 
modern  forms  of  public  worship. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

In  most  cases  the  teacher  in  preparing  this  lesson  will  have  to  depend  mainly 
on  the  Lesson  Notes  and  those  subjoined  below,  since  material  bearing  on 
public  worship,  while  abundant,  is  not  usually  found  except  in  theological 
or  ministers'  libraries.  Some  of  the  Additional  Reading  References  will 
probably  be  found  in  ordinary  public  libraries,  and  the  pastor  may  have 
Gladden's  The  Christian  Pastor  and  the  Working  Church.     Articles  in  Encyclo- 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  8  19 

pedias  on  "  Hymnology,"  "  Mass,"  "  Prayer  Book,"  and  in  Bible  Diction- 
aries on  "  Atonement,"  "  Prayer,"  "  Sacrifice  "  may  be  found  helpful.  The 
descriptions  of  the  several  systems  of  public  worship  now  in  vogue  in  Christian 
churches  are  given  in  the  Lesson  Notes  with  sufficient  fulness  to  enable  the 
reader  to  get  an  idea  of  their  essential  differences.  Much  interesting  material 
may  also  develop  in  connection  with  the  subjects  for  special  study.  The 
great  majority  of  church  attendants  go  only  occasionally  to  other  churches 
than  their  own,  and  very  rarely  to  churches  where  the  form  of  worship  is 
radically  different  from  that  to  which  they  are  accustomed.  Some  personal 
acquaintance  with  these  systems  and  with  the  principles  which  underlie 
them  should  prove  interesting.  Moreover,  it  will  help  to  prepare  the  way 
for  the  class  discussion  in  which  the  practical  value  of  the  lesson  centers. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 
The  Assignments.     Obviously  this  lesson  paves  the  way  for  the  next 
which  considers  the  problem  of  making  public   worship   attractive.      This 
will  bring  up  for  more  detailed  discussion  some  of  the  matters  mentioned  in 
the  present  lesson. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  (/)  PubHc  worship  may  be  briefly  defined 
as  rendering  to  God  by  an  open  assembly  the  honor  which  is  His  due. 

{2)  Justin  Martyr  (110-165  a.d.)  describes  as  follows  the  Christian  worship 
of  his  day:  "  On  the  day  called  Sunday,  all  who  live  in  cities  or  in  the  country 
gather  together  at  one  place,  and  the  memoirs  of  the  Apostles  or  the  writings 
of  the  prophets  are  read,  as  long  as  time  permits;  then,  when  the  reader  has 
ceased,  the  president  verbally  instructs,  and  exhorts  to  the  imitation  of  these 
good  things.  Then  we  all  rise  together  and  pray,  and,  when  our  prayer  is 
ended,  bread  and  wine  and  water  are  brought,  and  the  president  in  hke 
manner  offers  prayers  and  thanksgivings,  according  to  his  ability,  and  the 
people  assent,  saying  Amen;  and  there  is  a  distribution  to  each,  and  a  partici- 
pation of  that  over  which  thanks  have  been  given,  and  to  those  who  are  absent 
a  portion  is  sent  by  the  deacons.  And  they  who  are  well  to  do,  and  wilhng, 
give  what  each  thinks  fit ;  and  what  is  collected  is  deposited  with  the  president 
who  succors  the  orphans  and  widows,  and  those  who  through  sickness  or  any 
other  cause  are  in  want,  and  those  who  are  in  bonds,  and  the  strangers  so- 
journing among  us."     Ante-  Nicine  Fathers,  Vol.  1,  p.  186. 

(5)  '  The  Council  of  Trent  defined  the  Mass  as  at  once  a  sacrament  which 
is  received  and  a  sacrifice  which  is  offered.  For  confirmation  appeal  was  made 
(/)  to  Christ's  eternal  priesthood  (Heb.  7:11),  which  implies  that  His  sacrifice 
was  to  continue  to  all  times;  {2)  to  the  promise  of  a  pure  sacrifice  to  be  made 
amongst  all  peoples  (Mai.  1  :  11);  (5)  to  the  meaning  of  '  This  do  in  remem- 
brance of  Me,'  as  meaning  sacrifice.  The  Mass  has  a  propitiatory  power 
in  effecting  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  In  it  the  central  idea  of  Catholicism  is 
involved;  namely,  the  mediatorial  and  propitiatory  functions  of  the  church, 
which  believes  that  the  incarnation  and  sacrifice  of  Christ  are  repeated  every 
day." — Condensed  from  Schaff-Herzog :  Encyclopedia  of  Religious  Knowledge, 
Art.  "  Mass." 


20  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

The  Questions  for  Class  Discussion.  (/)  What  effect  upon  the  people 
may  we  reasonably  expect  from  each  part  of  the  common  worship  as  it  is 
practised  in  our  churches? 

The  invocation  aims  to  prepare  the  minds  of  the  worshipers  for  a  devout 
and  reverential  participation  in  the  subsequent  service.  The  responsive 
readings  bring  to  mind  some  of  the  choicest  utterances  of  ancient  psalmists 
whose  words  have  become  vehicles  for  expressing  the  deepest  religious  experi- 
ences of  the  human  race.  The  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Apostles'  Creed  recited 
in  unison  give  respectively  a  familiar  form  of  petition  in  which  all  can  join 
in  voicing  the  universal  needs  of  mankind,  and  a  brief  statement  of  the  essen- 
tial contents  of  the  Christian  faith.  In  the  so-called  long  prayer  the  minister 
speaks  as  the  representative  of  the  congregation  and  seeks  to  bring  before 
the  Heavenly  Father  their  collective  and  individual  needs.  The  music,  an- 
thems and  hymns  should  inspire  feelings  of  praise,  gratitude,  and  devotion. 
The  offering  affords  an  opportunity  for  each  one  in  a  practical  way  to  show  his 
gratitude  for  the  personal  benefits  received  from  the  service,  and  his  sense  of 
obligation  in  assisting  to  carry  on  the  work  of  God's  Kingdom  in  the  commu- 
nity and  in  the  world  at  large.  From  the  sermon  each  one  may  derive  instruc- 
tion in  relation  to  religious  truth,  and  should  experience  a  quickened  sense  of 
moral  and  religious  duty.  The  benediction  is  a  reverential  ending  to  the 
service. 

These  are  the  purposes  which  each  part  of  the  pubHc  service  is  designed  to 
serve.  So  far  as  the  worshipers  place  themselves  in  a  right  attitude  toward 
the  service  as  a  whole  we  may  reasonably  expect  corresponding  effects  on 
their  minds  and  consciences. 

(2)  How  would  you  regard  a  proposition  to  formulate  a  uniform  ritual  for 
all  the  churches  in  your  denomination? 

This  is  a  question  in  respect  to  which  individual  opinion  and  conviction 
will  play  a  large  part  in  shaping  the  answer.  In  general,  however,  we  may 
agree  with  Dr.  Gladden  who  holds  that  "  there  would  be  much  dissent  from 
a  proposition  to  formulate  a  uniform  ritual  for  any  of  the  non-liturgical 
churches.  Even  if  considerable  freedom  were  allowed  in  the  use  of  it,  the  ten- 
dency to  a  monotonous  and  lifeless  repetition  would  be  regarded  by  many 
as  far  outweighing  the  gain  that  would  be  realized  through  a  more  complete 
and  comprehensive  presentation  of  the  truths  on  which  worship  is  founded." 

(3)  How  can  our  Protestant  congregations  be  given  a  larger  active  share  in 
the  public  worship? 

"  The  responsive  reading  of  portions  of  the  Scripture  is  now  quite  common 
in  American  churches,  and  when  properly  conducted  it  is  an  excellent  feature. 
The  Psalms  and  the  prophetic  poems  are  best  suited  to  responsive  reading. 
These  should  always  be  put  for  this  purpose  into  the  rhythmic  form  that 
belongs  to  them.  It  is  little  less  than  absurd  to  adhereto  the  verse  divisions 
in  the  responsive  reading  of  the  Psalms.  The  poetry  is  constructed  for  the 
very  purpose  of  antiphonal  expression;  our  verse  divisions  simply  destroy  its 


The  Senior  Teacher— Lesson  9  21 

artistic  form  The  parallelisms  of  these  old  lyrics,  as  we  find  them  arranged 
m  Ihe  revSd  versions,  are  better  adapted  than  anythmg  m  literature  to  the 

" '?T":\epetoToT^^^^^^^  the  ancient  creeds  by  the  congregation  is  also 
common  aTd  altogether  suitable,  while  the  people  of  most  of  our  churches 
have  learned  to  join  with  the  mimster  m  the  audible  repetition  of  the  Lord  s 
Prlyer  The  Beatitudes  and  the  Lord's  summary  of  the  law  might  weU  take 
fhe  place  in  congregational  worship,  of  the  Ten  Commandments^  Some 
judidous  selection!  might  also  be  made  from  the  Anghcan  Book  o  Common 
Prayer.  Language  which  has  been  hallowed  by  centuries  of  use,  into  wh  ch 
genSitions  of^rlying  men  have  poured  their  hearts,  possesses  a  value  which 
no  newly  formed  phrases  can  possibly  contain. 

"  With  the  introduction  of  responsive  readings,  chants,  and  creeds,  it  is 
eviden  that  some  reduction  must  need  be  made  in  other  P-^^f^  ^h^.^^™^ 
and  it  is  probable  that  what  is  known  as    the  long  prayer     might,  in  many 

^'^11 'thTstaftetS' Te'enrichment  of  public  worship  needs  to  be  wisely 
and  firmly  handled.  Changes  which  have  no  merit  but  novelty,  and  which 
a?eint^ded  chiefly  as  bait  to  draw  auditors  should  be  ngidly  excluded;  only 
Sose  should  be  plrmitted  which  promise  to  assist  m  making  the  worship 
of  ?he  congregation  more  general,  more  hearty,  and  more  mtelligent  - 
Condensed  from  Gladden:    The  Christian  Pastor  and   Working  Church,  pp. 


150-155. 


Lesson  9.     HOW  TO  MAKE  PUBLIC  WORSHIP  EFFECTIVE. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  create  a  thoughtful  interest  in  the  various  ways 
by  which  public  worship  may  be  made  more  helpful. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

Teachers  will  observe  that  in  this  lesson  the  emphasis  respecting  pubUc 
worship  is  on  the  word  "  effective."  Some  forms  of  worship  are  more  helpful 
than  others,  and  the  kind  that  may  be  quite  helpful  to  one  class  of  persons 
has  little  value  'for  another  class.  Since  the  form  has  something  to  do  with 
the  effectiveness  of  public  worship,  and  since  effectiveness  is  to  be  measured 
by  the  degree  to  which  the  service  promotes  a  consciousness  of  fellowship 
with  God  and  inspiration  to  do  His  will,  will  not  the  history  of  the  church 
during  the  past  two  thousand  years  throw  some  light,  at  least  m  a  general 
way,  on  what  have  proved  the  most  effective  forms  of  worship?  A  rapid 
survey  will  help  to  answer  this  question. 

The  Christian  church  in  Jerusalem  did  not  at  once  come  into  a  consciousness 
of  its  independence  of  Jewish  forms.  The  Apostles,  as  well  as  the  rest  of  the 
disciples  were  still  devout  Jews,  faithful  in  their  attendance  on  the  elaborate 
ritual  of  the  temple.  But  in  addition  they  had  frequent  gatherings  of  their 
own  characterized  by  a  free  and  voluntary  expression  of  thought  and  feeling. 


22  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

The  same  unrestrained  worship  continued  as  Christianity  spread  from  Pales- 
tine throughout  the  Grseco-Roman  world.  The  early  Christians  had  no 
churches  or  temples  of  their  own.  They  met  in  one  another's  houses.  "  Wor- 
ship was  not  separated  from  their  daily  life  and  common  duties.  The  worship 
of  God  was  not  confined  to  set  times,  but  pervaded  their  lives.  The  perform- 
ance of  ever>^  duty  was  an  act  of  worship,  because  done  in  His  name.  They 
came  together  as  often  as  possible.  The  social  and  religious  were  so  harmo- 
niously blended  that  they  could  not  be  separated.  There  was  certainly  nothing 
more  than  the  faintest  resemblance  between  their  gatherings  and  what  we 
call  divine  service.  One  thing,  however,  soon  became  fixed  in  their  gatherings. 
A  portion  of  the  Old  Testament  was  read.  They  early  began  to  read  the  letters 
of  the  Apostles  and  of  others,  that  were  in  circulation.  Reference  is  made  to 
this  custom  of  public  reading  in  the  Book  of  Revelation  1 : 3,  in  the  words, 
'  Blessed  is  he  that  readeth,  and  they  that  hear  the  words  of  the  prophecy.' 

"  Nearly  all  our  information  of  the  services  is  derived  from  the  first  letter 
of  Paul  to  the  Corinthians.  From  this  it  is  evident  that  there  was  the  greatest 
liberty  of  speech.  One  has  a  psalm,  another  has  a  teaching,  another  a  revela- 
tion, another  a  tongue,  another  an  interpretation,  and  another  a  prophecy. 
The  custom  of  taking  up  a  collection  for  the  poor  was  early  introduced." — 
Thatcher:  History  of  the  Apostolic  Church,  pp.  297,  298. 

"  Traces  of  the  beginnings  of  hturgies  and  of  Christian  hymns  may  indeed  be 
found  in  Clement  of  Rome  (a.  d.  96)  and  The  Teaching  of  the  Apostles 
(a.  D.  100);  the  latter  also  in  the  Pauline  epistles  themselves  (Eph.  5:19; 
Col.  4:16;  1  Tim.  3:16);  and  we  probably  should  conceive  of  the  public 
worship  of  this  period  as  in  a  state  of  transition  from  the  spontaneous  exercise 
of  spiritual  gifts,  such  as  is  described  in  Paul's  epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  to 
the  more  formal  service  of  later  times.  But  it  was  still  a  simple  service.  The 
two  rites  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  were  the  only  obhgatory  cere- 
monies."— Purves:  The  Apostolic  Age,  p.  297. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  centuries  the  original  freedom  and  spontaneity  of 
early  public  worship  had  largely  disappeared.  Voluntary  participation  was 
displaced  by  fixed  forms.  Religious  emblems,  pictures  and  images  were 
introduced  and  gradually  regarded  with  idolatrous  veneration.  When  Christi- 
anity became  the  established  religion  of  the  Roman  empire,  the  heathen 
temples  were  transformed  into  Christian  churches,  and  a  multitude  of  heathen 
ceremonies  were  taken  over  into  Christian  worship.  For  centuries  the  inward 
spirituality  of  worship  as  taught  by  Jesus  was  almost  smothered  by  the 
weight  of  superimposed  outward  ritual.  The  reaction  came  with  the  German 
Reformation  and  the  revival  of  a  purer  faith.  More  and  more  Christian 
worship  has  freed  itself  from  bondage  to  forms.  A  large  part  of  Protestant 
worship  is  to-day  a  comparatively  simple  service.  Where  liturgical  forms 
are  still  retained  they  are  made  to  minister  to  a  high  degree  of  spiritual  life. 
The  extreme  reaction  against  a  formal  service  has  been  witnessed  among  the 
Friends,  who  have  endeavored  to  revive  primitive  Christianity.  They  put 
a  strong  emphasis  on  the  privilege  of  direct  access  to  God,  and  personal 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  9  23 

guidance  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Hence  they  hold  their  public  worship  in  silence 
unless  some  one  feels  prompted  by  the  Spirit  to  preach  or  to  teach,  to  offer 
prayer  or  praise.  "  But  this  silence  is  itself  intended  to  be  occupied  with 
religious  acts.  Highest  of  these  is  the  direct  communion  of  the  soul  with 
its  Maker  and  Lord,  in  rapt  devotion,  in  prayer  and  thanksgiving."  It  is 
thus  seen  from  the  history  of  the  church  that  a  loss  of  spirituality  is  always 
attended  by  an  increased  emphasis  on  ritual,  while  a  revival  of  spirituaHty 
leads  to  a  diminished  emphasis. 

The  effectiveness  of  public  worship  depends  not  only  on  the  form,  but 
very  largely  on  the  personal  attitude  of  the  worshiper.  So  true  is  this  that 
if  any  one  of  us  would  put  himself  in  a  sympathetic,  rather  than  critical, 
frame  of  mind  toward  a  service,  he  would  derive  substantial  benefit  from 
forms  so  opposite  as  those  of  the  Roman  Catholics  and  the  Friends.  The 
teacher  might  well  raise  the  question  whether  much  of  the  fault-finding  with 
public  worship  is  not  due  rather  to  a  low  state  of  religion  on  the  part  of  the 
attendants  than  to  defects  in  the  service. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  Naturally  a  study  of  the  prayer  and  conference  meeting 
will  follow  that  of  public  worship.  The  responsibility  for  its  effectiveness 
lies  closer  to  the  people,  since  it  is  more  immediately  in  their  hands  than 
the  formal  Sunday  service.  What  to  do  with  the  prayer  meeting  is  a  standing 
problem  in  many  churches,  and  its  discussion  ought  to  awaken  a  good  deal 
of  interest. 

Ask  some  member  of  the  class  to  prepare  a  brief  statement  of  what  he 
considers  an  ideal  prayer  and  conference  meeting. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  Answers  to  all  these  are  suggested  in  the 
Lesson  Notes.  Let  the  answers  in  the  class  be  as  brief  as  possible,  so  as  to 
reserve  ample  time  for  considering  the  subjects  for  special  study  and  for 
the  class  discussion. 

The  Questions  for  Class  Discussion.  {1)  How  can  the  musical  part  of 
pubhc  worship  be  brought  to  its  highest  efficacy? 

"  What  the  vocal  leadership  of  the  congregation  shall  be  is  a  question  of 
some  seriousness.  The  perfection  of  congregational  worship  is  perhaps 
attained  in  those  English  Dissenting  churches  where  the  organ  is  the  sole 
leader  of  the  voices,  so  far  as  can  be  seen  by  the  casual  visitor,  and  where 
the  whole  congregation  forms  a  great  chorus,  rendering,  with  heartiness 
and  precision,  anthem  and  chant  and  hymn.  In  these  churches,  however,  a 
nucleus  of  trained  voices  is  usually  clustered  about  the  organ,_  who  form 
an  invisible  choir,  and  whose  strong  initiative  carries  the  congregation  steadily 
along.  In  many  of  them,  anthems  of  considerable  intricacy  are  rendered 
with  no  hesitation;  voices  all  over  the  church  are  heard  joining  them.  The 
use  of  the  chant  in  these  congregations  is  almost  universal;  the  people  have 


24  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

been  accustomed  to  it  from  their  childhood   and  the  musical  declamation  is 
as  natural  to  them  as  reading. 

' '  In  most  of  the  English  Congregational  churches  there  is,  however,  a  large 
choir  in  plain  sight  of  the  congregation,  and  the  leadership  of  the  church  song 
is  committed  to  them.  In  few  cases  do  they  undertake  any  performance  of 
their  own;  the  anthems  and  the  chants  as  well  as  the  hymns  are  all  sung  by 
the  congregation,  the  choir  serving  only  as  leaders  of  the  song.  EngHsh 
organists  are  also  as  a  ru^e  expert  leaders  of  congregational  singing,  and  the 
congregation  is  made  to  feel  the  meaning  of  the  words  of  the  hymn  and  to 
respond  to  the  sentiment  expressed. 

"  In  America  the  choir  is  often  permitted  to  have  matters  all  its  own  way. 
Quartette  choirs,  as  a  rule,  disapprove  of  congregational  singing,  and  make 
it  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  for  the  congregation  to  follow  them  in  the  hymns. 
And  the  hymns  are  rendered  in  a  manner  so  uninte  ligent  and  perfunctory 
that  no  one  cares  to  join  in  them.  This  must  not  be  understood  as  a  con- 
demnation of  the  employment  of  single  voices  or  any  combination  of  voices 
in  worship.  If  the  pastor  may  lead  the  worship  in  prayer  so  may  the  singer. 
But  in  such  case  the  singer  must  be  a  real  worshiper.  The  art  of  the  rendition 
must  be  hidden  by  the  sincerity  of  the  worship. 

"  The  chief  use  of  the  choir  is  to  lead  the  worship  of  the  congregation.  If 
they  help  the  people  to  praise  God,  they  do  well;  if  they  fail  of  that  they 
are  worse  than  useless,  no  matter  how  artistic  may  be  their  own  performance. 
They  ought  to  be  intelligent  and  reverential  persons,  and  the  spirit  of  the 
leader  ought  to  be  so  full  of  intelligent  reverence  that  the  true  nature  of  their 
work  should  be  constantly  kept  before  them." — Condensed  from  Gladden: 
The  Christian  Pastor  and  the  Working  Church,  pp.  143-147. 

{2)  Can  the  ordinary  man  learn  to  enjoy  common  worship? 

If  the  "  ordinary  man  "  is  not  interested  in  religion,  or  the  cultivation  of 
his  higher  nature,  it  will  probably  be  a  difficult  matter  to  interest  him  in  any- 
thing so  specifically  religious  as  public  worship.  He  may  go  because  his  wife 
is  a  member  of  the  church,  because  his  children  are  in  the  Sunday  school,  or 
because  he  believes  that  churches  are  a  valuable  social  asset.  But  to  enjoy 
common  worship,  that  is  to  say,  to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  it,  to  make  personal 
appHcation  of  its  instructions  and  privileges,  and  above  aU  to  value  it  as  an 
opportunity  for  communion  with  the  Heavenly  Father — this  implies  the  posses- 
sion of  an  inward  disposition  which  the  ordinary  undevout  man  has  not. 

A  really  devout  person  will  not  need  to  learn  to  enjoy  common  worship 
any  more  than  a  hungry  man  will  need  to  learn  to  enjoy  common  food. 

(S)  How  can  we  prevent  habit  from  taking  off  the  edge  of  devotional 
feeHng? 

By  constantly  engaging  in  Christian  service. 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  10  25 

Lesson  10.     THE  PRAYER  OR  CONFERENCE  MEETING. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  direct  attention  to  the  prayer  meeting  as  the 
most  effective  means  at  the  disposal  of  the  church  for  the  maintenance  of  a 
high  spiritual  life,  and  for  quickening  the  other  activities  of  the  church. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

Read  attentively  the  Lesson  Notes  and  supplement  them  with  such  other 
reading  on  the  subject  as  may  be  available.  Dr.  Cowan's  New  Life  in  the 
Old  Prayer  Meeting  is  one  of  the  most  suggestive  discussions  of  this  subject 
that  has  appeared  in  recent  years.  In  connection  with  the  Lesson  Notes  the 
teacher  should  also  recall  from  personal  observations  and  experiences  the 
features  that  have  helped  to  make  not  only  interesting  but  profitable  prayer 
meetings;  and  also  the  causes  that  have  produced  dull,  spiritless,  and  per- 
ftmctory  meetings.  A  consultation  with  the  pastor  may  be  very  helpful  in 
suggestions  bearing  on  both  of  these  points.  Study  carefully  the  condition 
of  the  prayer  meeting  in  your  own  church  as  pointed  out  in  the  subjects  for 
special  study.  Be  not  content  with  a  merely  theoretical  discussion  of  the 
lesson  but  concentrate  it  on  the  practical  consideration  how  to  make  it  a 
larger  and  richer  means  of  good  to  the  church  and  to  the  community. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 
The  Assignments.  In  several  preceding  lessons  we  have  considered  various 
elements  of  public  worship  and  how  to  make  them  effective  for  the  moral 
and  religious  uplifting  of  men.  But  if  the  people  are  not  there,  all  these 
agencies  are  vain.  The  richest  banquet  stays  no  pang  of  hunger,  if  no  one  is 
there  to  eat  it.  The  all-important  problem,  therefore,  is  how  to  get  the  people 
who  need  the  gospel  within  its  reach.  Our  next  lesson  will  take  up  the  general 
question  of  getting  people  to  church.  Ask  each  member  of  the  class  to  find 
out  from  several  of  his  non-church-going  friends  why  they  do  not  go. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {1)  Show  that  what  the  heart  is  to  the 
body,  the  prayer  meeting  is  to  the  church.  As  the  heart  sends  the  life-giving 
blood  to  the  remotest  extremities  and  nourishes  every  organ,  so  the  prayer 
meeting  sends  spiritual  life  into  all  the  activities  of  the  church.  If  the  prayer 
meeting  is  dull  and  lifeless,  every  form  of  church  work  will  languish.  If 
it  is  full  of  Hfe  and  energy,  the  whole  chiu-ch  will  feel  the  throb  of  its  power. 

{2,  3)  These  questions  are  answered  in  the  Lesson  Notes. 
'  (4)  Mere  talk  in  a  conference  meeting,  no  matter  how  good  it  may  be,  is 
merely,  thought  passing  from  one  human  mind  to  another.  A  stream  rises 
no  higher  than  its  source.  A  man  cannot  lift  himself  over  a  fence  by  pulling 
at  his  boot-straps.  Prayer,  on  the  contrary,  is  a  means  for  spiritual  uplifting 
since  it  takes  hold  of  a  Power  above  itself. 

{6-10)  These  questions  also  are  covered  in  the  notes. 


26  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.  If  the  prayer  meetings  in  your  church 
are  not  entirely  satisfactory  what  means  would  you  suggest  for  their  perma- 
nent  improvement? 

"  Too  much  monotony  makes  a  dull,  tiresome  meeting.  People  do  not  give 
attention  to  an  exercise  that  is  dull,  and  their  interest  corresponds  to  their 
attention.  The  same  invariable  order  of  things  week  after  week — it  matters 
not  if  it  is  pray,  sing,  read;  or,  read,  sing,  pray;  or  sing,  pray,  read — and  the 
same  prayers  by  the  same  people,  and  the  same  songs  sung  in  the  same  way, 
make  a  monotony  that  tends  to  kill  interest  and  put  the  meeting  to  sleep, 

"  There  are  a  score  of  little  things  that  may  be  done  to  freshen  a  prayer 
meeting  room.  Don't  be  afraid  of  introducing  the  element  of  surprise  into 
the  meeting.  Do  the  unexpected  and  informal  thing  when  it  seems  to  be  the 
thing  to  do.  Get  the  church  choir  to  come  and  sing.  Ask  the  young  people 
to  visit  the  church  meeting  in  a  body.  Invite  the  pastor  and  deacons  to  visit 
the  young  people's  meetirig.  Don't  court  novelty  for  the  sake  of  novelty,  but 
use  novelty  as  an  inducement  to  worship.  God  wants  His  sheep  led  into 
'  green  pastures';  are  our  prayer  meetings  keeping  them  on  the  old,  dry 
stubble?  There  is  enough  individuality  in  almost  every  church  to  make  the 
prayer  meetings  fresh  and  attractive.  It  isn't  looked  up  and  enlisted.  We 
leave  all  the  praying  and  speaking  to  '  the  faithful  few,'  when  a  little  more 
'  gumption  '  would  draw  out  new  voices,  and  a  httle  more  thoughtfulness 
would  lead  us  to  lay  aside  our  stilted,  conventional  manner. 

"  The  way  in  which  the  meeting  is  opened  counts  for  a  great  deal.  If  it 
has  been  the  unvarying  custom  to  do  this  in  a  set  way,  don't  do  it  in  that 
way;  it  isn't  necessary.  There  are  so  many  other  ways,  if  one  will  just  think 
a  moment.  Open  with  silent  prayer.  Open  with  a  solo.  Open  with  sentence 
prayers.  Open  with  a  blackboard  talk.  Open,  by  prearrangement,  with 
remarks  from  some  one  in  the  pews.  In  the  young  people's  meeting  open 
with  comments  by  six  members  on  the  six  daily  readings.  Open  by  Bible 
verses  given  by  the  members  as  testimonies.  Open  with  Scripture  reading. 
It  would  be  unpardonable  to  create  the  impression  that  new  ways  in  a  meeting 
are  substitutes  for  the  Divine  presence;  new  ways  are  simply  a  means  for 
arousing  those  present  out  of  lethargy.  If  the  meeting  has  always  had  a, 
praise  service  at  the  beginning,  open  your  meeting  in  some  other  way.  If  it 
has  been  the  unvarying  custom  to  follow  the  praise  service  with  prayer, 
bring  in  the  prayer  at  some  other  time.  Get  out  of  the  rut.  Change  the 
meeting  end  for  end,  if  desirable.  Doing  things  in  a  mechanical,  routine  way 
is  one  of  the  most  fatal  hindrances  to  thoughtfulness.  K  every  other  leader 
has  said,  '  The  meeting  is  now  open  and  we  hope  you  will  improve  the  time,' 
don't  say  that.  Say  something  different.  Let  it  be  dignified,  and  perfectly 
natural  to  yourself,  but  avoid  stale,  trite  expressions,  as  you  would  a  rattle- 
snake. 

"  Plan  the  meeting — the  opening,  the  closing,  the  middle,  the  song,  the 
Scripture  reading,  the  invitation,  the  lights,  the  arrangements  of  seats,  the 
tone  of  voice  you  will  use,  the  coat  you  will  wear,  the  sub-divisions  of  the 
topics,  the  persons  who  are  to  co-operate  with  you,  the  reception  of  strangers, 
the  announcements,  the  accompanyist's  work,  the  ushering,  the  sexton, 
everything  that  enters  into  the  meeting  that  is  under  your  control. 

"  Let  none  think,  from  the  emphasis  that  has  been  laid  on  variety  and 
freshness,  that  the  most  important  thing  about  a  prayer  meeting  is  to  have 
new  methods.    Motive  is  always  more  than  method.    New  methods  are  like 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  11  27 

new  cog-wheels  in  a  machine ;  unless  there  is  steam  power  to  drive  them  they 
are  only  dead  weight.  What  is  needed  is  not  so  much  a  revamped  prayer 
meeting  as  a  revitalized  prayer  meeting.  Methods  may  be  a  help  to  introducing 
new  life  into  the  prayer  meeting;  but  we  must  depend,  not  on  methods  as 
an  end,  but  as  a  means  to  an  end — LIFE.  It  may  be  said  that  if  we  have 
the  Holy  Spirit  present  we  shall  need  no  new-fangled  methods.  If  we  have 
the  Spirit  we  shall  have  all  the  best  methods;  He  is  the  inventor  of  all  that 
makes  worship  helpful.  '  Having  the  Spirit  '  is  no  substitute  for  the  exercise 
of  our  own  wits.  The  Spirit  does  not  favor  lazy  Christians.  If  we  are  not  in- 
ventive and  progressive  we  shall  not  long  '  have  the  Spirit,'  and  that  is  just 
what  ails  many  prayer  meetings." — Condensed  from  Cowan:  New  Life  in 
the  Old  Prayer  Meeting,  pp.  104-114. 


Lesson  11.     GETTING   PEOPLE   TO   CHURCH:  A  Survey  of 
General  Conditions  and  Problems. 

Object  of  the  Le&son.  To  show  some  of  the  measures  that  must  be  adopted 
to  lessen  the  alienation  of  the  people  from  the  churches. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

The  teacher  will  see  that  a  large  part  of  the  lesson  is  given  to  a  consideration 
of  the  present  drift  of  the  people  away  from  the  churches,  and  the  reasons  for 
it.  The  more  important  are  mentioned  in  the  notes.  The  Additional  Reading 
References  call  attention  to  helpful  books  on  the  subject.  The  first  two 
deserve  especial  mention.  Gray's  Symposium  discusses  the  situation  in 
England,  but  the  conditions  there  are  essentially  the  same  as  here.  Other 
volumes  discussing  the  relation  of  the  churches  to  the  social  movements  of 
our  time  should  be  found  in  every  public  library.  Here  again  is  an  excellent 
opportunity  for  the  teacher  to  use  the  pastor's  library.  Even  if  the  teacher 
should  find  no  further  reading  matter  at  hand,  the  suggestions  in  the  lesson 
are  so  numerous  and  cover  so  wide  a  field  that  the  time  for  speaking  of  them 
will  be  all  too  short. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  The  lesson  for  next  Sunday  brings  the  problem  of 
non-church-going  into  the  home  field.  Ask  each  member  of  the  class  to  bring 
in  some  suggestion  that  may  be  helpful  in  solving  the  problem. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  Most  of  these  are  so  fully  answered  in  the 
Lesson  Notes  as  to  need  little  further  statement.  Under  question  5  mention 
may  be  made  of  these  additional  reasons  for  decreased  church  attendance. 

"  Great  multitudes  of  people  are  precluded  from  regular  church  attendance 
by  the  fact  that  a  large  part  of  the  world's  work  cannot  be  stopped  on  Saturday 
night,  but  has  to  be  continued  on  Sunday.    The  rapid  development  in  recent 


28  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

years  of  foreign  travel  and  the  vacation  habit  have  interposed  new  and  serious 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  church.  The  multiplication  of  all  sorts  of  'brother- 
hoods '  makes  the  work  of  the  church  increasingly  difficult.  These  fraternal 
organizations  often  supply  what  the  church  in  many  instances  has  so  sorely 
lacked:  fellowship,  brotherly  attentions  in  sickness  and  misfortune,  and 
substantial  benefits  in  case  of  death.  In  rural  communities  the  Grange  has 
been  diverting  the  life  of  the  people  from  the  church.  It  is  often  the  one 
popular  institution  of  the  countryside.  The  Woman's  Club  is  an  admirable 
organization.  It  has  not  come  into  existence  with  any  definite  aim  to  injure 
the  church,  but  it  absorbs  treasures  and  energies  that  were  formerly  given 
to  the  church." — Condensed  from  Crooker:  The  Church  of  To-day,  pp.  32-39. 

Under  question  8  add  : 

"  Certain  intellectual  conditions  of  the  present  are  inhospitable  to  the 
church.  A  few  years  ago  many  eminent  divines,  unfortunately,  took  a  very 
hostile  attitude  toward  modern  science  in  general.  The  doctrine  of  evolution 
and  the  higher  criticism  of  the  Bible,  in  particular,  received  much  condem- 
nation and  some  abuse  at  their  hands.  And  very  naturally,  in  losing  this 
battle  with  science  and  scholarship,  the  clerical  army  has  been  very  much 
discredited;  and  in  consequence  the  church  has  suffered  .  .  .  The  church 
has  imprudently  insisted  that  certain  theories  of  creation  and  certain  views 
respecting  the  Bible  are  essential  to  religion.  As  science  and  scholarship 
have  compelled  men  to  abandon  certain  old  notions  (not  essential  to  Chris- 
tianity) they  have  also,  taking  the  clergyman  at  his  word,  abandoned  religion 
and  the  church." — Crooker;  The  Church  of  To-day,  pp.  40-42. 

The  Questions  for  Class  Discussion.  {1)  How  shall  we  answer  those  who 
tell  us  that  the  usefulness  of  the  church  is  at  an  end? 

"  There  are  many  people  who  appreciate  the  church  as  a  historical  institu- 
tion, but  they  feel  that  its  day  of  usefulness  is  at  an  end.  It  was  once  helpful, 
like  castles  and  thrones;  but  as  these  are  fast  giving  place  to  democracy,  so, 
too,  the  church  will  surely  disappear.  Civic,  educational,  and  philanthropic 
agencies  will  in  the  future  better  perform  the  functions  that  ecclesiastical 
establishments  formerly  carried  forward. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  a  careful  and  scientific  study  of  the  facts  of  modern 
life,  its  greatest  problems  and  its  gravest  dangers,  will  make  it  clear  to  every 
thoughtful  person  that  the  need  of  the  Christian  church  is  greater  to-day 
than  ever  before.  The  recent  changes  in  the  world  instead  of  rendering  it 
useless  really  enlarge  its  sphere  and  emphasize  its  importance.  Present 
conditions  instead  of  calling  for  the  abandonment  of  the  church  make  in- 
creasing demands  for  a  better  and  a  stronger  church.  Its  existing  short- 
comings are  incidental;  its  real  worth  and  importance  are  permanent.  The 
true  ministries  of  the  church  have  not  been  taken  over  by  any  of  the  newly 
organized  agencies  of  modem  socitey.  No  adequate  substitute  for  its  worship, 
its  prophecy,  or  its  corporate  Hfe  on  the  high  plane  of  man's  utmost  spirituality, 
has  been  devised,  and  none  is  likely  to  be  invented. 

"  It  is  frequently  asserted  that  education  has  become  so  general  that  the 
pulpit  is  no  longer  needed  to  teach  men  the  truths  of  history  and  science. 
But  this  view  of  the  case  is  based  upon  the  radically  false  assumption  that  the 
church  exists  simply  to  impart  information.  The  part  of  the  problem  of  life 
to  which  religion  is  related  and  for  which  the  church  labors,  is  the  training 
pf  the  people  in  reverence,  loye,  hope — the  spiritual  ideal;  and  all  this  still 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  11  29 

belongs  specifically  to  the  church.  Nothing  else  has  arisen  to  serve  mankind 
along  these  lines. 

"  As  the  stress  and  strain  of  human  life  increase,  the  church  is  more  and 
more  needed  to  cheer,  to  comfort,  and  to  console.  The  faster  the  speed  of 
the  train,  the  greater  the  danger  of  hot  boxes.  When  we  double  the  pressure 
of  life,  we  quadruple  the  need  of  recreation.  The  mad  rush  of  modern  life, 
much  of  it  wholly  unnecessary,  is  indescribably  sad  and  terrifically  ruinous. 
It  is  the  peculiar  and  important  office  of  the  church  to  meet  these  conditions 
from  both  sides;  to  moderate  the  maddened  pace,  and  also  to  relieve  those 
who  become  exhausted;  to  prevent  the  hot  box,  if  possible,  and  also  to  rescue 
sufferers  from  the  wreckage  when  disaster  occurs.  Into  this  fever-stricken, 
storm-tossed,  wreck-strewn  world  the  church  must  send  both  its  sustaining 
and  its  comforting  word.  Every  hour  that  religion  can  detain  men  in  its 
sanctuary,  the  risk  of  nervous  collapse  or  moral  dehnquency  is  lessened. 

"  The  chief  sources  of  the  motives  needed  to  operate  successfully  the  vast 
and  complicated  machinery  of  modem  life  are  those  that  are  opened  by  the 
ministrations  of  a  sincere  and  spiritual  piety.  Through  them  flows  the 
grace  of  God.  The  solution  of  our  serious  problems,  civic  and  personal,  lies, 
not  in  any  industrial  reorganization  of  the  world,  but  in  a  new  spiritual  dy- 
namic operative  in  the  heart;  for  out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life.  The  church 
of  God  stands  for  the  soul;  and  the  soul  is  supreme  and  eternal." — Condensed 
from  Crooker:  The  Church  of  To-day,  pp.  135-139,  150. 

{2)  Why  are  there  generally  more  women  than  men  at  church? 

Much  of  the  preaching  is  of  the  soft  and  gentle  kind  that  appeals  more 
to  the  feminine  disposition  than  the  masculine.  Even  if  the  minister  preaches 
a  virile  gospel  that  should  appeal  to  men,  it  seldom  receives  support  from 
the  church  which,  in  almost  every  instance,  is  organized  for  women's  work 
rather  than  for  a  man's  job.  Church  work  is  approached  from  the  sentimental 
rather  than  the  business  point  of  view.  There  lingers  in  every  manly  man  an 
admiration  for  the  strenuous  and  heroic  whether  in  thought  or  action.  He  is 
not  captivated  by  kid  gloves  and  lavender.  Above  all  he  dislikes  being  scolded 
at  his  failure  to  be  interested  in  what  does  not  interest  him.  At  a  conspicuous 
Boston  church  with  congregations  ranging  from  twenty-five  hundred  to  three 
thousand  there  are  fully  as  many  men  as  women.  The  subjects  discussed  are 
handled  in  man  fashion.  Where  strenuous  work  is  needed  men  are  usually 
not  backward  in  taking  hold.  The  reason  why,  generally,  there  are  fewer 
men  at  the  churches  is  not  that  the  men  are  less  religious  than  the  women, 
but  that  the  form  in  which  religion  is  generally  presented  appeals  less  to 
them  than  to  women. 


30  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

Lesson  12.     GETTING  PEOPLE  TO  CHURCH:  Local 
Conditions  and  Problems. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  consider  ways  and  means  by  which  the  local 
church  may  increase  its  attendants  at  public  worship. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

Read  the  Lesson  Notes  attentively.  Note  that  the  subject  matter  for  this 
lesson  is  to  be  had,  not  so  much  from  a  study  of  books,  as  by  personal  observa- 
tion of  methods  actually  employed  by  churches  that  have  built  up  good 
congregations.  Think  of  other  methods  than  those  mentioned  in  the  lesson. 
Speak,  for  example,  of  the  value  of  occasional  lectures  on  other  than  strictly 
religious  subjects,  with  or  without  stereopticon  views.  These  should  always 
be  free,  since  those  who  most  need  them  are  usually  those  who  are  least  able 
to  pay.  Even  a  small  admission  fee  counts  up  a  good  deal  where  the  family 
is  large.  At  the  same  time  admission  should  be  by  tickets,  distributed  in 
any  way  that  may  be  thought  best. 

In  towns  or  villages  where  there  is  no  public  library,  and  even  where  such 
is  found,  a  church  reading  room,  open  every  evening  except  when  the  church 
has  its  regular  services,  is  often  a  great  attraction.  Such  a  room  can  be  fitted 
up  at  small  expense,  made  light  and  cheerful,  and  furnished  with  an  abun- 
dance of  illustrated  papers,  magazines,  and  reviews.  Why  not  start  in  con- 
nection with  it  a  moderate-sized  circulating  library?  A  fee  of  only  one  cent 
a  day  for  fifty  outstanding  books  would  pay  the  entire  expense  of  the  library 
and  the  reading  room.  The  town  of  Brookline,  Mass.,  has  a  magnificent 
public  library,  and  yet  almost  under  its  eaves  a  newsdealer  runs  a  circulating 
library  from  which  a  surprising  number  of  persons  get  books  at  two  cents  a 
day.  In  reply  to  an  objection  that  this  is  not  the  business  of  the  church  it 
may  be  said  that  it  is  the  church's  business  to  minister  to  all  human  needs 
in  a  way  that  may  win  attention  to  its  higher  message.  Jesus  did  not  con- 
fine His  ministry  to  the  relief  of  spiritual  needs. 

Some  churches  have  found  it  a  good  plan  to  have  one  person  in  every  three 
or  four  pews  to  extend  a  friendly  greeting  to  strangers  who  may  enter  them, 
and  a  cordial  invitation  to  come  again.  In  many  cases  this  works  better  than 
a  handshaking  committee  at  the  door.  Other  suggestions  will  readily  occur 
to  an  observant  teacher. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 
The  Assignments.  To  get  people  to  come  to  church  is  a  thing  greatly  to 
be  desired,  but  it  is  only  a  step  toward  a  greater  end.  It  brings  them  within 
range  of  the  gospel.  The  greater  task  is  to  lead  them  to  a  personal  acceptance 
of  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Saviour.  The  next  lesson  will  deal  with  the  question 
of  increasing  the  membership  through  the  ordinary  processes  of  church  growth. 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  12  31 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  Under  question  3  emphasize  the  fact  that 
no  machinery  runs  itself.  As  a  locomotive  needs  steam,  so  the  most  perfect 
church  organization  needs  the  power  of  the  divine  life  in  human  souls  to 
put  energy  into  it.  Prayerful  dependence  on  the  Spirit  of  God  is  an  essential 
to  success.  When  the  church  permits  the  Spirit  of  God  to  work  in  and 
through  it,  complicated  machinery  will  not  be  needed. 

In  connection  with  question  6  remind  the  class  that  one  secret  of  the  power- 
ful hold  by  CathoHc  churches  upon  their  grown  up  men  is  the  habit  of  church- 
going  established  in  childhood  and  youth.  Children  in  Catholic  families 
are  not  permitted  to  choose  whether  they  will  go  to  church  or  not.  A  habit 
firmly  fixed  in  early  life  is  hard  to  break  in  later  years.  Many  cases  of  luke- 
warmness  and  backsliding  in  Protestant  churches  can  be  traced  to  the  fact 
that  in  early  hfe  church-going  was  optional  rather  than  compulsory. 

The  group  method,  question  10,  will  tend  to  make  the  inviting  of  friends 
and  acquaintances  to  share  one's  church  privileges  spontaneous  and  informal. 
The  use  of  printed  invitation  cards  in  connection  with  such  personal  invita- 
tions is  unnecessary.  It  would  be  like  using  a  manuscript  with  an  extem- 
poraneous address. 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.  How  can  the  children  in  the  Sunday 
school  be  trained  to  regular  church  attendance? 

' '  ^irst,  we  ought  in  all  possible  ways  to  enlist  the  co-operation  of  the  parents 
ihe  task  IS  doubly  hard  where  they  are  indifferent.  We  do  well  also  to  dis- 
illusion those  who  reason,  '  My  children  do  not  care  to  go  to  church  and  I 
do  not  believe  m  compelling  them  to  go.'  Would  these  same  parents  so' reason 
of  secular  education?  If  so,  the  state  comes  in  to  be  wisdom  for  them,  and 
to  say  that  the  child  must  go  to  school.  Children  do  not  want  to  do  manv 
things;  they  do  not  want  to  wash  their  faces,  go  to  bed,  or  give  up  painting 
a  window  with  shoe-blacking.  Children  of  indulgent  parents  have  a  lot  of 
good  times;  but  those  same  children  may  some  day  despise  the  follv  that 
indulged  them.  ^ 

"  Our  efforts  must  also  be  with  the  children.  The  church  services  should 
usually  be  announced  m  the  school.  Where  the  school  meets  before  the  church 
service,  the  announcement  is  made  just  before  the  closing  of  the  session 
and  all  who  can  are  urged  to  attend.  Sometimes  the  closing  exercises  are 
omitted,  scholars  and  teachers  passing  directly  from  the  class-rooms  to  the 
church  auditorium.  In  one  case,  as  a  result  of  this  method  and  the  earnest 
co-operation  of  superintendent  and  teachers,  seventy-seven  per  cent  of  the 
entire  school  attend  th^  church  services. 

"  Again,  in  the  opening  exercises  of  the  school  the  superintendent  or  pastor 
may  request  all  pupils  who  attended  the  last  morning  service  of  worship  in 
c  lu  u  u  ^°  ^^^^^  ^^^  ^^^"^^  ^^^^  request  may  not  be  advisable  every 
babbath  but  an  occasional  request  of  the  kind  is  a  reminder  to  the  whole 
school  that  their  doings  are  followed  with  solicitous  interest,  and  this  will 
be^a  kindly  encouragement  and  admonition  to  church  attendance. 

"  The  Sunday  school  report  for  the  day  should  include  the  attendance  at 
church  of  those  present  in  the  school.  If  the  per  cent  of  church  attendance 
IS  smaller  than  usual,  attention  should  be  called  to  it 


32  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

"  The  class  in  the  Intermediate  department  having  the  best  percentage 
for  church  attendance  may  be  rewarded  by  a  banner;  and  in  the  Junior 
department  by  a  flag. 

"  In  some  systems  of  marking,  attendance  on  one  of  the  Sabbath  services 
of  the  church  is  necessary'-  for  securing  a  '  perfect  mark  '  in  the  Sunday  school. 

"  In  some  schools  blank  books  are  used,  in  which  are  written  the  text 
of  the  morning  sermon  at  the  home  church  or  at  any  church  which  the  pupils 
may  have  attended  while  away  from  home.  All  who  are  faithful  with  these 
records  receive  books  at  Christmas  time. 

"  Whatever  our  method,  we  must  remember  that  the  encouraging  of  church 
attendance  by  personal  interest  and  example  is  more  important  than  rewards 
and  honor  rolls  or  admonitions.  Our  example  as  Christian  teachers  and 
workers,  and  our  personal  care  of  the  pupils  as  individuals,  are  more  per- 
suasive than  words  or  '  marks.'  A  child  at  first  does  not  go  to  church  from 
the  abstract  reason  that  it  is  right:  but  a  child  is  mightily  influenced  because 
others  go." — Condensed  from  Mead:  Modern  Methods  in  Sunday  School 
Work,  pp.  186-193. 


Lesson    13.     THE    EVERYDAY    GROWTH    IN    CHURCH 
MEMBERSHIP. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  consider  the  best  ways  of  increasing  the  member- 
ship in  a  local  church,  and  to  encourage  personal  work  for  individuals. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON.  " 

In  addition  to  the  Lesson  Notes,  which  should  be  studied  carefully,  much 
valuable  material  will  be  found  in  the  Additional  Reading  References.  H. 
Clay  Trumbull's  little  book  on  Individual  Work  for  Individuals  should  be 
in  every  teachers'  library.  It  is  crowded  with  illustrations  from  the  author's 
own  experiences  and  from  those  of  other  Christian  workers  of  the  inestimable 
value  and  far-reaching  results  of  personal  work  in  bringing  men  to  faith  in 
Christ.  Since  the  everyday  growth  of  church  membership,  like  the  local 
problem  of  getting  people  to  church,  depends  largely  on  personal  efforts, 
this  lesson  also  may  be  illustrated  from  the  experiences  of  the  teacher  and 
of  the  class  in  winning  souls.  The  practical  value  of  the  lesson  centers  on 
the  question  for  class  discussion.  A  serious  problem  in  nearly  every  church 
is  that  of  getting  the  members  to  realize  their  responsibility  for  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  other  men,  and  to  perceive  the  almost  miraculous  power  at  times  of 
a  few  simple  words  in  beginning  the  spiritual  transformation  of  a  human 
life.  Do  not  let  the  discussion  spend  itself  in  mere  talk.  Try  to  make  it  the 
beginning  of  real  personal  work  with  men  for  Christ. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 
The  Assignments.     The  next  lesson  will  present  a  study  of  those  special 
evangelistic  efforts,  or  revivals,  in  which  local  churches  as  well  as  great  com- 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  13  33 

munities  combine  in  a  campaign  for  winning  men  to  a  serious  consideration 
of  religious  duties. 

As  a  special  assignment  ask  some  member  of  the  class  to  present  a  brief 
statement  of  the  essential  differences  between  the  Day  of  Pentecost  and  a 
modem  revival. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  In  connection  with  question  6  this  illus- 
tration of  the  superior  value  of  a  Christian  life  over  mere  argument  may  be 
helpful : 

"  One  who  was  widely  known  as  faithful  in  good  words  and  good  works  in 
Eastern  Massachusetts  told  me  of  his  experience  in  this  line.  He  was  ac- 
customed to  ride  out  from  Boston  daily  to  and  from  a  suburban  town.  One 
who  was  frequently  his  seat-mate  was  a  man  prominent  as  an  unbeliever, 
and  who  was  editing  a  free-thinking  periodical.  Again  and  again  this  man 
endeavored  to  draw  my  friend  into  a  discussion  on  the  subject  of  religion, 
but  without  success  in  so  doing.  One  day  my  friend  openly  met  the  matter 
in  this  way : 

"'I  do  not  want  to  have  a  discussion  with  you  on  the  subject  of  religion. 
I'm  no  match  for  you  in  argument.  You'd  get  the  better  of  me  every  time.' 
But,  apart  from  that,  one  thing  I  know,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  my 
Savior,  and  I  trust  Him  all  the  time.  This  is  the  comfort  of  my  Ufe,  and 
I  wish  you  had  the  same  comfort.' 

"  At  this  his  pertinacious_  seat-mate  brought  his  hand  down  sharply  on  my 
friend's  knee  and  said  heartily: 

"  'There  you've  got  me,  my  friend.    I've  nothing  to  offer  against  that.' 

"  My  friend's  conviction  was  his  best  and  his  resistless  argument  " — 
Trumbull:  Individual  Work,  pp.  180-182. 

In  connection  with  question  9  and  "  Decision  Day  "  teachers  should  re- 
member that  the  supreme  purpose  of  the  Sunday  school  is  the  building  up  of 
religious  character,  that  this  is  not  the  product  of  a  spasmodic  effort  or 
momentary  emotional  appeal,  but  the  specific  end  which  every  detail  in  the 
organization  of  the  school  should  have  in  view  from  first  to  last,  and  by  which 
its  efficacy  should  be  tested.  There  is  a  sense,  then,  in  which  every  session 
of  the  school  should  be  a  "  Decision  Day,"  since  every  lesson,  every  high  and 
noble  character  studied,  every  example  of  unselfish  devotion,  every  enforce- 
ment of  truth  and  righteousness  should  awaken  in  each  pupil  a  conscious 
inward  response — "  Yes,  that  is  right,  that  is  what  I  ought  to  be,  that  is  what 
I  ought  to  do."  But  while  this  continuous  educational  process  is  emphasized 
we  should  not  disparage  the  value  of  special  and  definite  efforts  to  focus 
these  impressions  made  on  the  pupils  from  Sunday  to  Sunday  in  a  final  deliber- 
ate yielding  of  themselves  to  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Saviour  and  Lord.  The 
pupils  should  be  prepared  for  this  step,  they  should  be  taught  to  anticipate 
full  church  membership  as  a  joyful  privilege.  There  need  be  no  hired  evan- 
gelist, no  employment  of  sensational  methods,  no  funereal  solemnity,  but 
simply  a  reverent  straight-forward  appeal  to  a  manly  or  womanly  sense  of 
duty.    If  the  activities  of  the  school  have  been  well  directed,  there  should  be 


34  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

scarcely  any  more  difficulty  in  obtaining  a  hearty  response  than  in  promoting 
a  class  from  one  grade  to  another.  Intelligent  and  fruitful  church  membership 
is  the  natural,  as  it  should  be  the  expected,  result  of  membership  and  training 
in  the  Sunday  school. 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.  What  responsibility  rests  on  the 
lay  members  of  a  church  for  its  everyday  growth  in  membership? 

' '  The  layman  knows  that  the  personal  touch  is  the  secret  of  business  success. 
It  is  the  age  of  the  agent  and  the  promoter  and  the  commercial  traveller. 
Seventy  per  cent  of  the  trade  of  our  time  is  accomphshed  by  personal  solici- 
tors who  circumnavigate  the  globe  and  crowd  every  hotel  and  train  to  do 
their  work.  Bishop  Fowler  tells  of  an  alert  preacher  who,  when  he  was  sent 
to  a  town  where  commercial  travellers  congregated,  went  among  them  and 
asked  each  one  for  what  commercial  house  he  was  running.  At  last,  some 
one  impressed  by  his  business  manner,  asked:  '  For  whom  are  you  running?' 
The  pastor  repHed  with  great  eagerness,  '  I  am  running  for  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  and  I  am  going  to  show  my  goods  at  half -past  ten  to-morrow  morning 
up  at  that  house  with  the  steeple,  and  I  wish  you  would  dome  and  examine  the 
goods.'  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  church  was  full,  and  so  were  the 
contribution  box  and  the  altar. 

"If  we  wish  to  recruit  an  organization  or  a  fraternity,  it  is  the  personal 
method  we  adopt.  College  students  spend  weeks  and  months  in  cultivating 
those  whose  presence  will  add  weight  to  the  society  they  represent.  They 
introduce  them  to  their  friends  and  concern  themselves  with  their  interests 
in  school  and  town.  Alas  that  it  should  be  true  of  us  who  profess  to  keep 
company  with  Jesus  as  our  dearest  friend  that  we  have  never  once  offered  to 
introduce  our  neighbors  to  Him! 

"  The  results  which  have  come  from  this  personal  work  on  the  part  of  lay- 
men are  simply  marvellous.  A  layman  who  had  become  worldly  through 
the  increase  of  property  was  one  day  waited  upon  by  his  pastor  and  told  that 
he  felt  moved  after  prayer  to  lay  upon  his  heart  the  bringing  of  one  of  his 
rich  friends  to  Christ.  This  he  refused  at  first  to  do,  but  after  repeated  urging 
consented  to  invite  his  friend  to  dine  with  him.  Just  as  they  were  leaving 
the  table  he  told  his  message  with  much  self-abasement.  His  friend  replied, 
'  I  have  wished  for  a  year  that  some  one  would  help  me  to  Christ.'  So  enam- 
ored of  his  plan  did  the  worker  become  that  he  continued  his  personal  efforts 
until  one  htmdred  and  fifty  men  had  been  won  to  the  Christian  life.  In 
Philadelphia  is  a  layman  who  had  long  been  a  member  of  the  church,  but 
had  been  powerless  for  good.  In  a  revival  service  he  felt  called  to  begin  the 
work  of  winning  men  one  by  one.  In  four  and  a  half  months  he  had  led  one 
hundred  and  ninety-four  to  a  better  life." — Condensed  from  Goodell:  Pastoral 
and  Personal  Evangelism,  pp.  74-78. 


THE  SENIOR  TEACHER 

An  Aid  in  Teaching  the  Course  on 
THE   MODERN   CHURCH 


Lesson  14.    MODERN  EVANGELISM. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  contrast  the  old-time  revival  with  the  revival 
methods  employed  in  recent  years,  and  to  show  the  superior  advantages 
of  continuous  evangelism. 

PREPARING   THE   LESSON. 

Recall  the  great  religious  reforms  recorded  in  the  Old  Testament  as 
having  taken  place  under  Samuel  (1  Sam.  7:3,  4),  under  Asa  (1  Kings 
15:9-15),  under  Josiah  (2  Kings  23:1-25),  and  consider  in  what  sense 
they  may  be  called  religious  revivals. 

One  of  the  best  discussions  of  evangelism  from  the  modem  point  of 
view  is  found  in  Professor  Coe's  The  Religion  of  a  Mature  Mind,  chapter 
IX,  "  Are  Conversions  Going  out  of  Date?"  An  admirable  treatment 
of  modem  evangelism  is  given  in  chapter  XVII,  "  Revivals  and  Re- 
vivaHsm,"  in  Gladden's  The  Christian  Pastor.  The  reading  of  either  of 
these  chapters  will  be  exceedingly  helpful.  Note  that  revivals,  as  ordinarily 
conducted,  assume  that  the  normal  condition  of  church  life  is  brief  periods 
of  exalted  emotional  excitement  alternating  with  long  periods  of  decline. 
Note  also  how  widely  this  idea  has  been  adopted,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  it  has  no  warrant  in  the  New  Testament.  Study,  on  the  other 
hand,  those  churches  that  enjoy  a  fairly  continuous  religious  prosperity, 
and  consider  the  means  whereby  this  is  brought  about. 

TEACHING   THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  From  a  study  of  revivals  we  pass  naturally  to  a 
consideration  of  the  methods  by  which  the  churches  seek  to  retain  the 
members  who  are  won  either  through  an  everyday  growth  or  through 
evangelistic  work.  This  topic  is  treated  in  Lesson  15,  on  "  Holding  the 
Members." 

Ask  some  member  of  the  class  to  interview  two  or  three  neighboring 
pastors  and  report  on  the  methods  they  have  found  useful  in  keeping  their 
church  members  from  drifting  away. 

The  Qu3stions  on  the  Lesson.  Questions  1-6  are  covered  by  the 
Lesson  Notes. 

35 


36  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

Under  Question  7  the  following  statements  may  be  helpful :  ' '  The  great 
city  campaigns,  conducted  under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman, 
have  challenged  the  church  to  step  out  into  larger  and  better  work.  His 
peculiar  method  is  to  move  the  city  from  the  center.  The  movement  is 
centrifugal  rather  than  centripetal. 

"  While  the  methods  adopted  in  these  campaigns  are  far  from  being 
either  unsafe  or  insane,  nevertheless  there  is  a  boldness  of  conception  and 
execution  which  sometimes  startles  even  those  who  consider  themselves 
progressive.  To  be  sure,  the  '  Midnight  Parades  '  are  not  especially 
new,  but  never  before  have  they  been  conducted  in  just  such  a  manner, 
and  with  such  results. 

"  To  have  the  largest  theatres  in  the  city  packed  full  at  the  midnight 
hour,  after  such  a  parade,  and  to  have  the  new  day  become  as  the  beginning 
of  life  to  multitudes,  is  indeed  a  significant  thing.  ... 

"  For  a  score  of  men  to  leave  the  topmost  gallery,  working  their  way 
down  the  winding  stairs,  go  out  into  the  street  and  back  again  into  the 
main  part  of  the  theatre,  so  that  they  may  take  a  public  stand  for  Christ, 
indicating  by  so  doing  that  they  have  accepted  Him  as  their  Savior, 
proves,  at  least,  that  they  are  in  earnest.  This  was  done  many  times, 
but  many  more  came  from  the  main  floor  and  the  balcony.  It  has  been 
said  that  men  are  hard  to  reach.  Again  and  again  is  it  proven  that  they 
are  easier  to  win  than  women.  Getting  at  them — that  is  the  hardest 
part  of  the  problem.  In  theatre,  hall,  shop,  and  on  the_  street — wherever 
men  would  come,  there  the  Gospel  is  always  preached  with  power. 

"  The  noonday  meetings  in  the  largest  downtown  theatres  bring  thou- 
sands into  touch  with  the  movement.  The  'Good  Cheer'  meetings  on 
every  Monday  morning  bring  echoes  from  every  district.  *  Cheer  Up  ' 
meetings,  somebody  called  them  by  mistake  one  day,  amid  the  laughter 
of  the  audience,  but  they  are  that,  too.  Not  only  are  cheerful  tidings 
brought  in,  telling  of  the  good  work  as  a  v/hole,  but  here  and  there  a 
man  will  tell  of  the  new  life  that  has  come  to  him,  and  often  a  woman  will 
repeat  the  story  of  a  great  newly  given  joy,  which  finds  an  echo  in  many 
hearts  and  lives  in  the  immense  audience. 

"  Besides  all  these  great  special  meetings  and  demonstrations,  there 
are  the  regular  nightly  services,  not  only  in  the  center  of  town,  but  at 
every  strategic  point  in  the  city,  in  charge  of  the  group  of  evangelists 
and  their  singers  who  accompany  the  leader."  • — Stelzle.  Further 
intensely  interesting  descriptions  of  this  modem  "  Aggressive  Evangel- 
ism "  is  given  in  the  chapter  from  which  the  above  extracts  are  taken. 

In  addition  to  the  methods  suggested  in  Note  5,  the  follow^ing  plan  for 
securing  continuous  evangelism  has  been  tried  again  and  again  with 
remarkable  success:  "  One  active  pastor  in  the  heart  of  Illinois  added  one 
hundred  and  seven  new  members  to  his  church  in  a  single  year  by  w^orking 
along  the  following  lines:  He  went  into  each  class  in  his  flourishing  Sabbath 
school  and  secured  the  names  and  addresses  of  all  families  whose  children 
were  in  his  school,  but  who  were  not  members  of  his  church.  He  was 
amazed  to  find  how  many  there  were.  He  began  to  call  upon  them.  He 
found  them  most  responsive  to  his  invitation.  Many  of  them  had  not 
come  into  the  church  for  want  of  this  very  invitation.  They  were  ready 
and  anxious  to  come.  Others  required  but  a  small  measure  of  urging. 
They  came  so  readily  he  was  both  surprised  and  ashamed.  He  realized 
at  last  that  while  he  had  been  mourning  because  of  the  small  number  that 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  14  37 

came  into  his  church  in  response  to  his  pubHc  appeals,  he  had  allowed 
this  rich  mine  to  lie  all  unworked.  It  revealed  a  new  world  to  him.  His 
experience  aroused  others,  until  that  one  pastor's  application  of  a  ne\^ 
idea  to  a  very  old  condition  resulted  in  the  gathering  in  of  thousands." 
— Black:  Building  a  Working  Church,  pp.  137,  138. 

The  Questions  for  Class  Discussion.  {1)  Why  are  we  not  seeing  old- 
fashioned  revivals  now? 

"  The  conscience  of  to-day  judges  the  issues  of  life  by  a  different  standard 
from  that  to  which  the  typical  revival  has  made  its  appeal.  The  typical 
revival  has  worked  primarily  upon  the  individualistic  motive  of  desire 
for  personal  salvation.  The  great  characteristic  emotions  of  our  time, 
which  have  to  do  with  social  relationships,  were  awakened  only  incidentally, 
or  by  way  of  consequence. 

"  The  modem  mind  puts  more  searchingly  than  ever  before  the  question 
of  practical  utility.  Can  you  show,  by  the  effects  in  the  life,  by  the  in- 
fluence upon  society,  that  the  revival  type  of  conversion  has  any  advan- 
tage over  other  forms  of  religious  expression?  Unless  such  a  demonstration 
be  set  forth,  men  will  not  be  persuaded  to  return  to  the  olden  ways. 

"  A  clearing  up  is  taking  place  in  men's  ideas  concerning  the  relation 
of  obscure  or  striking  mental  facts  to  the  supernatural.  There  can  be 
no  reasonable  doubt  that  much  of  the  power  of  the  old-time  revival  rested 
upon  the  supernatural  interpretation  which  the  popular  mind  gave  to 
certain  mental  phenomena  just  because  they  were  mysterious  and  awe- 
inspiring.  .  .  .  The  sudden  reversals  of  feeling,  the  spiritual  illumina- 
tions, and  the  changed  impulses  that  occurred  in  converts  were  taken, 
because  they  were  mysterious,  to  be  certain  proof  of  regenerative  power. 
.  .  .  Through  the  influence  of  scientific  method,  this  attitude  of  mind 
is  certainly  passing  away." — Condensed  from  Coe:  Religion  of  a  Mature 
Mind,  pp.  274-277. 

{2)  Which  is  likely  to  be  the  more  effective  way  of  extending  the  kingdom 
of  God,  through  revivals,  or  through  the  religious  education  of  children? 

"  Under  the  prevalence  of  the  revival  system,  the  normal  methods  of 
Christian  nurture  have  been  sadly  neglected,  both  in  the  church  and  in 
the  home.  The  effect,  both  upon  the  church  and  upon  the  home,  of  this 
too  exclusive  reliance  upon  the  revival  system,  has  undoubtedly  been 
disastrous.  The  life  of  many  of  the  churches  has  thus  come  to  be  a  con- 
stant succession  of  floods  and  droughts,  of  chills  and  fever.  Between 
stagnation  and  excitement  they  are  all  the  time  vibrating.  Sometimes 
they  are  on  the  heights  of  religious  faith  and  fervor;  oftener  they  are  in 
the  depths  of  discouragement  and  fruitlessness.  The  influence  affecting 
them  appears  to  be  malarial.  The  periodicity  of  heats  and  rigors  is  not 
a  sign  of  health.  .  .  .  How  shall  they  escape,  and  whither?  A  man  who 
awakes  in  the  morning  and  finds  the  mercury  in  his  house  down  to  freezing 
point,  does  not  wish  to  live  in  this  temperature;  he  cannot.  But  what 
shall  he  do  to  raise  it  ?  He  might  set  the  house  on  fire :  that  would  accomplish 
the  result,  but  it  might  not  be  the  best  way.  Another  way  would  be  to 
build  good  fires  in  the  fireplaces  and  keep  them  burning  steadily.  Prob- 
ably that  would  make  the  house  comfortable  after  a  little.  This  method 
might  not  be  so  expeditious  or  so  exciting  as  the  other,  but  on  the  whole 
it  would  be  more  judicious.     And  it  would  seem  that  there  must  be  a 


38  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

better  method  of  delivering  a  church  from  a  condition  of  low  temperature 
than  by  applying  to  it  the  torch  of  high-pressure  revivalism. 

"  But  not  only  is  the  life  of  the  church  unhealthily  affected  by  a  too 
exclusive  reliance  upon  the  revivalistic  methods,  there  is  also  a  serious 
loss  in  the  neglect  of  those  quieter  methods  of  nurture  and  training,  out 
of  which  such  important  gains  might  come.  ...  If  the  children  of  Chris- 
tian families  are  kept  in  the  church  and  trained  for  efficient  service,  if 
the  organic  life  of  the  church  is  as  vigorous  as  it  ought  to  be,  its  own  law 
of  natural  increase  will  speedily  put  it  in  possession  of  the  world." — 
Condensed  from  Gladden:  The  Christian  Pastor,  pp.  384-387. 


Lesson  15.    HOLDING  THE  CONVERTS. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  consider  how  the  losses  in  efficiency  and 
membership  through  failure  to  hold  the  converts  can  be  remedied  or 
lessened. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Scripture  reading  calls  attention  to  the  fundamental  condition 
imderlying  permanent  Christian  vitality — abiding  in  the  Son  and  in  the 
Father.  Converts  who  maintain  this  unbroken  fellowship  with  Christ 
will  need  no  elaborate  machinery  to  hold  them  fast  to  the  church.  They 
will  be  lil^e  the  branch  that  is  united  to  the  vine,  is  permeated  by  its  life, 
and  consequently  bears  rich  and  abundant  fruit.  The  literature  bearing 
directly  on  the  subject  of  the  lesson,  as  stated  in  Note  2,  is  scanty.  Most 
of  the  organizations  for  youths  and  adults  seem  designed  primarily  to 
attract  them  into  relations  by  which  they  may  be  won  into  membership 
than  to  develop  actual  members  into  strong  and  stable  Christians.  This 
is  unfortunate,  since  the  strength  of  a  church  depends  not  on  the  number 
of  its  converts,  but  on  the  number  who  are  transformed  into  working  and 
contributing  members.  This  is  a  fact  of  such  importance,  and  yet  so 
frequently  ignored,  that  the  teacher  should  be  prepared  to  put  the  utmost 
emphasis  on  it  in  the  class.  Study  also  the  means  employed  by  the  local 
churches  to  prevent  losses  of  converts,  talk  with  the  pastors  about  it, 
and  get  any  further  information  that  may  be  available  in  books  or  periodi- 
cals. Gladden's  chapter  on  "  Enlisting  the  Membership  "  is  particularly 
good. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignment.  The  next  lesson  takes  up  for  consideration  the  losses 
sustained  by  churches  through  the  removal  of  members  to  a  distance, 
and  the  means  best  adapted  to  keep  mere  transfers  of  membership  from 
becoming  actual  losses. 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  15  39 

Ask  some  member  of  the  class  to  report  on  the  methods  used  in  your 
own  church  to  keep  in  touch  with  absentee  members. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lessons.  Under  the  first  question  the  teacher 
may  well  allude  to  the  special  need  for  guidance  and  encouragement 
which  every  convert  experiences.  The  following  paragraph  from  Hoppin's 
Pastoral  Theology,  p.  475,  may  be  helpful:  "  There  is  no  sight  more  pathetic 
than  a  young  Christian  in  the  first  glow  of  his  new  love,  knowing  little 
of  what  lies  before  him,  and  thinking  perhaps  that  his  salvation  is  gained 
and  the  work  done.  The  pathetic  part  of  it  is,  that  he  lives  as  yet  in  the 
ideal  of  Christianity,  and  when  the  actual  comes  his  strength  may  be  found 
to  be  weakness.  If  any  one,  therefore,  needs  kindness,  counsel,  charity, 
patience,  continual  support  and  encouragement,  it  is  he;  he  needs  con- 
stant instruction  and  building  up  in  the  things  of  the  new  life." 

Questions  2-5  are  answered  in  the  Lesson  Notes. 

Question  6  touches  the  inquiry  which  might  be  addressed  to  a  multitude 
of  church  members,  "  Why  stand  ye  here  all  the  day  idle?"  and  to  which 
in  most  cases  the  answer  would  be,  "  Because  no  man  hath  hired  us." 
No  one  has  set  them  to  work  in  the  Lord's  vineyard.  Often  this  inac- 
tivity is  due  to  a  prevailing  impression  that  the  minister  has  been  employed 
to  do  the  work  for  them — a  feeling  bluntly  expressed  by  an  elder  in  a 
Southern  church  who,  when  asked  by  his  pastor  to  lead  in  prayer,  de- 
clined, saying,  "  That's  what  we  hire  you  for."  "  As  well,"  says  Dr. 
Josiah  Strong,  "  might  a  pupil  in  a  gymnasium  think  he  employed  his 
teacher  to  take  exercise  for  him;  as  well  might  a  company  of  soldiers 
imagine  that  it  is  the  duty  of  their  captain  to  go  through  the  drill  in  their 
place,  and  fight  their  battles,  while  they  look  on,  and  applaud  or  criticize. 
If  your  exercise  is  taken  by  some  one  else,  your  exercise  is  not  taken  at 
all.     Duty  can't  be  done  for  you  by  another." 

A  reasonable  explanation  of  the  origin  of  the  feeling  that  the  minister 
is  to  do  aU  the  work  is  given  by  Dr.  Washington  Gladden  in  The  Christian 
Pastor,  pp.  417,  418. 

"  That  such  is  the  function  of  all  those  who  are  entrusted  with  the 
official  ministry  of  the  Gospel  has  always  been  understood.  Their  first 
business,  as  all  men  know,  is  not  to  save  themselves,  but  to  save  others. 
But  those  theories  of  the  church  which  separate  the  clergy  from  the  laity 
have  resulted  in  practically  surrendering  to  the  clergy  this  highest  form 
of  service.  The  high  calling  of  the  clergy  is  to  save  others;  that  of  the 
laity  is  to  be  saved.  Such  is  the  steady  implication  of  sacerdotalism. 
And  although  the  reformed  churches  have  repudiated  the  sacerdotal 
theories,  they  have  by  no  means  rid  themselves  of  all  their  implications. 
The  notion  that  thQ  people  are  in  the  church  to  be  taught  and  fed  and 
strengthened  and  comforted  and  inspired  and  led  to  heaven,  and  that 
the  minister  is  among  them  to  do  this  work  for  them  has  been  the  pre- 
vailing notion,  to  which  all  the  treatises  on  pastoral  theology  are  clear 


40  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

witnesses.  To  drive  all  these  misconceptions  from  the  minds  of  his  people 
is  one  of  the  first  duties  of  the  Christian  minister.  Line  upon  line,  precept 
upon  precept,  let  him  instruct  them  that  the  call  to  service  is  addressed 
not  only  to  the  man  in  the  pulpit,  but  to  all  the  men  and  women  in  the 
pews ;  that  it  is  the  whole  church  and  not  merely  its  ofhce  bearers  who  are 
to  be  witnesses  for  Christ  and  laborers  together  with  him ;  that  the  duty  of 
ministering  to  those  who  are  without  rests  upon  the  laity  as  well  as  upon 
the  clergy;  that  the  injunction  to  do  good  to  all  men  as  we  have  oppor- 
tunity, and  especially  to  those  of  the  household  of  the  faith,  is  addressed 
by  the  Apostle  to  the  people  and  not  to  their  pastors.  And  it  will  be  the 
minister's  constant  endeavor  to  secure  from  each  mernber  of  his  flock, 
even  the  feeblest,  some  co-operation  in  the  work  to  which  the  church  is 
called." 

The  Questions  for  Class  Discussion.  (1)  Can  churches  reasonably 
be  expected  to  hold  all  their  converts? 

The  position  of  the  church  in  this  respect  is  not  essentially  different 
from  that  of  other  human  institutions  or  organizations.  The  members 
of  a  family  are  bound  by  the  closest  ties.  Nevertheless,  despite  kinship, 
love,  self-sacrifice,  there  are  prodigal  sons  who  wander  away,  sometimes 
after  hard  experiences  coming  back  as  penitents,  and  sometimes  never 
coming  at  all. 

Fraternal  organizations,  Masons,  Knights  of  Pythias,  Odd  Fellows, 
and  scores  of  similar  organizations  hold  permanently  only  a  fraction  of 
their  members,  notwithstanding  the  financial  inducements  often  paid 
in  case  of  sickness,  accidents  or  death. 

Life  insurance  companies  have  the  same  experiences.  Multitudes 
of  policy  holders  suffer  their  insurance  to  lapse,  when  the  slight  effort  to 
continue  it  in  force  may  be  of  inestimable  benefit  to  themselves  or  their 
families. 

Human  nature  is  the  same  in  the  church  as  outside.  The  tragic  element 
in  lapsed  church  memberships  is  not  a  paltry  financial  loss  to  the  church, 
but  the  moral  and  spiritual  deterioration  in  the  individual  himself  of  which 
it  is  usually  the  unmistakable  symptom.  This  loss  is  limited  not  merely 
to  time,  it  extends  into  eternity. 

(2)  How  do  the  most  successful  churches  that  you  know  of  hold  their 
converts? 

This  question  must  be  discussed  in  view  of  the  personal  experiences 
and  observations  of  the  members  of  the  class. 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  16  41 

Lesson  16.    THE  MEMBER  WHO   MOVES  AWAY. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  consider  the  necessity  of  deaUng  wisely 
with  church  members  who  make  their  residence  away  from  the  home 

field. 

PREPARING   THE   LESSON. 

The  Scripture  reading  presents  a  part  of  the  letter  that  Jeremiah  sent 
to  the  exiles  in  Babylonia.  For  many  years  he  had  been  a  prophet  of 
doom  to  his  impenitent  and  disobedient  people.  When  at  length  the 
overthrow  of  the  Jewish  state,  which  he  had  so  long  predicted,  became 
an  accomplished  fact  and  the  threatened  exile  into  Babylonia  a  reality, 
the  false  prophets  who  had  persistently  contradicted  his  previous  pre- 
dictions of  judgment,  now  began  to  cheer  the  captives  with  false  announce- 
ments of  a  speedy  return.  Jeremiah  was  compelled  to  shatter  these 
hopes  also  and  to  foretell  a  long  exile.  At  the  same  time  he  counseled 
the  captives  to  resign  themselves  with  patience  to  the  situation  and  to 
make  the  best  of  it  by  building  houses,  planting  vineyards,  and  con- 
tinuing the  worship  of  Jehovah  in  a  strange  land.  The  religious  part 
of  his  advice  applies  equally  well  to  those  who  to-day,  from  choice  or 
force  of  circumstances,  make  new  homes  far  from  the  old.  They  may 
find  religious  conditions  very  different  from  those  to  which  they  have  been 
accustomed,  but  their  manifest  duty  is  to  use  to  the  utmost  such  oppor- 
tunities as  they  have,  and  to  beware  of  slipping  into  inactivity  and 
indifference. 

The  literature  on  this  subject  is  scattered  and  scanty.  Supplement 
the  lack  of  appropriate  reading  material  by  a  careful  study  of  the  local 
conditions  both  as  to  members  who  have  moved  away  and  as  to  those 
who  have  moved  on  to  your  own  field  without  as  yet  identifying  them- 
selves with  any  church. 

TEACHING   THE   LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  The  next  lesson  will  attempt  to  show  the  importance 
and  magnitude  of  the  work  done  by  Christian  women,  and  will  point  out 
some  reasons  for  their  prominence. 

Assign  to  some  member  of  the  class,  preferably  a  young  woman,  if 
the  class  is  mixed,  the  preparation  of  a  brief  report  on  the  work  of  deacon- 
esses in  the  Episcopal  church. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {1)  As  an  illustration  of  the  legal  attach- 
ment of  certain  classes  to  the  soil  the  following  extract  may  be  interesting: 

"_A  remarkable  form  of  serfdom  continued  to  survive  down  to  the 
closing  years_  of  the  eighteenth  centuiy.  Colliers  and  salters  were  bound 
by  the  law,  independent  of  paction,  on  entering  to  a  coal  work  or  a  salt 
mine,  to  perpetual  service  there;  and  in  case  of  sale  or  alienation  of  the 
ground   on  which   the  works  were   situated,   the   right   to   their  services 


42  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

passed  without  any  express  grant  to  the  purchaser.  The  sons  of  colliers 
and  salters  could  follow  no  occupation  but  that  of  their  father,  and  were 
not  at  liberty  to  seek  for  employment  anywhere  else  than  in  the  mines 
to  which  they  had  been  attached  by  birth."  Statutes  enacted  under 
George  III  abolished  this  last  remnant  of  slavery  in  England. 
(2-3)  Answered  in  the  Lesson  Notes. 

(4)  In  The  Watchman  of  November  16,  1911,  Rev.  W.  C.  Parker, 
chairman  of  the  Oregon  Baptist  State  Committee  which  has  under  con- 
sideration the  non-resident  member  problem,  has  a  very  informing  article 
summarizing  the  results  of  their  studies.  The  duties  of  such  members 
he  states  as  follows:  "  They  should  expect 

"  (a)  To  contribute  regularly  to  the  expenses  and  benevolence  of  the 
home  church  even  when  some  contributions  are  made  to  the  local  church 
of  another  denomination.  Contributions  to  another  denomination  are 
not  a  valid  excuse  for  the  non-support  of  one's  own  church. 

"  (&)  To  write  to  the  home  church  assuring  its  members  and  pastor 
of  their  loyalty  and  interest,  at  least  once  a  year. 

"  (c)  To  receive  communications  from  the  home  church  inquiring  as 
to  their  interest  and  asking  contributions.  Oftentimes  pastors  writing 
such  letters  receive  criticism  as  though  their  expectations  for  loyalty  and 
support   from    non-resident    members    were    unreasonable." 

(5)  "  It  would  be  a  simple  matter,  for  example,  to  notify  your  minister 
when  you  change  your  residence,  that  he  may  make  the  needful  correction 
on  his  calling  list  and  know  where  to  find  you.  A  postal  card,  costing 
one  cent,  and  which  you  could  inscribe  and  direct  in  less  than  one  minute, 
would  convey  to  him  this  information.  Yet  I  have  often  spent  hours  in 
hunting  up  families  or  individuals  who  had  changed  their  residence  with- 
out giving  me  any  notice  whatever.  Indeed,  in  my  long  experience  as 
a  pastor,  I  have  found  very  few  persons  who  were  thoughtful  enough  to 
give  the  minister  this  information,  even  when  their  attention  had  been 
repeatedly  called  to  the  matter  from  the  pulpit.     .     .     . 

"  Very  often  church  members  remove  from  the  city  to  distant  places 
without  giving  their  pastor  notice.  Within  the  past  three  months  I 
have  devoted  considerable  time  to  searching  for  a  missing  family,  and 
at  last,  six  months  after  their  departure,  I  learned  that  they  were  in  Kansas. 
Not  a  few  of  the  absentees  on  the  rolls  of  our  churches  have  behaved  in 
this  way,  and  we  are  now  wholly  unable  to  trace  them.  This  is  not  onlj 
a  great  annoyance  and  trouble  to  the  pastor;  it  is  a  gross  breach  of  their 
church  covenant." — Washington  Gladden:  "  Dropped  Stitches  "  in  Parish 
Problems,  pp.  236,  237. 

(6)  In  respect  to  persuading  absentee  members  to  send  for  letters, 
Mr.  Parker  says:  "  In  dealing  with  non-resident  members  of  other  churches 
that  have  moved  to  your  field,  much  patience  will  be  needed  and  also 
much  perseverance  of  the  pastor  as  well  as  of  the  saints.  ^  Our  denomi- 
national methods  and  customs  have  been  such  that  there  is  on  the  part 
of  many  an  exasperating  procrastination  and  lack  of  the  sense  of 
responsibility." 

As  there  is  often  needless  delay  on  the  part  of  members  in  sending 
for  the  church  letter,  largely  because  they  do  not  care  to  make  the  effort 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  16  43 

to  write  the  request  or  forget  to  do  so,  it  has  been  found  well  to  use  a 
form  like  the  following,  cither  printed  or  mimeographed.  Copies  of  this 
form  are  carried  at  all  times.  All  you  have  to  ask  in  the  way  of  effort 
on  their  part  is  the  signing  of  the  form,  and  they  are  usually  ready  to  do 
that.     This  you  can  send  at  once  to  the  proper  party. 

To     the church 

of 

Dear  Brethren  : 

Since  my  residence  is  now  such  that  it  seems  best  for  me  to  become  a 

member  of  the church  of 

State  of I  ask  you  to  have  granted 

to  me  a  letter  of  dismission  to  this  church. 

As  I  desire  to  enter  into  full  fellov^^ship  with  the  church  as  soon  as  possible, 
I  ask  you  to  attend  to  this  matter  as  promptly  as  possible.  Please  send 
the  letter  to 

Rev 

Pastor  of  the church. 

(Town) (State) 

The  Questions  for  Class  Discussion  (1)  Why  should  churches  give 
more  attention  to  members  who  have  moved  away  than  they  commonly  do? 

Regard  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  a  non-resident  member  should  be 
considered  as  much  an  obligation  as  though  he  were  still  living  in  direct 
fellowship  with  the  church.  Keeping  up  Christian  interest  in  him  by 
means  of  at  least  an  annual  communication  should  consume  no  more 
time  than  would  be  given  to  a  friendly  call  if  he  were  close  at  hand. 

The  encouragement  to  Christian  activity  received  by  a  sympathetic 
letter  from  the  home  church  will  often  keep  the  absent  member  from 
drifting  away  from  his  covenant  relations. 

The  home  church  will  itself  be  highly  rewarded  by  the  grateful  and 
hearty  answers  that  will  be  received  from  some  of  the  absent  ones. 

(2)  How  can  resident  members  be  made  helpful  in  looking  after  absentees? 

"  A  careful  Hst  should  be  made  out,  with  the  residences  of  those  absent, 
so  far  as  is  known;  and  this  list  should  be  taken  in  charge  by  the  clerk 
or  by  some  member  of  the  church  who  volunteers  to  perform  this  service. 
The  list  should  be  read  at  some  well  attended  social  meeting,  that  those 
present  may  correct  and  complete  it,  if  they  happen  to  know  the  where- 
abouts of  any  of  the  absent  ones.  Then  these  names  should  be  parceled 
out  for  correspondence  among  the  members  of  the  church  present,  giving 
to  each  correspondent  but  few  names ;  and  each  one  should  write  regularly, 
say  once  in  six  months,  to  those  assigned  to  him,  explaining  to  each  that 
he  writes  in  the  name  of  the  church,  to  convey  its  greetings  to  its  absent 
communicant,  to  give  him  information  concerning  the  work  that  is  going 
on  at  home,  and  to  inquire  after  his  welfare.  .  ,  . 


44  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

"  If  the  residence  of  any  absent  member  is  not  known,  it  should  be  the 
duty  of  the  person  to  whom  the  name  is  assigned  to  find  it  out.  The 
pastor  or  others  may  furnish  clues  to  the  investigation,  but  the  work  of 
making  the  investigation  should  be  left  to  the  correspondent  himself. 
All  discoveries  of  this  nature,  and  all  changes  of  residence,  should  be 
reported  by  the  correspondents  to  the  clerk,  or  the  person  who  keeps  the 
list  of  absentees,  that  this  list  may  be  as  full  and  accurate  as  possible. 
To  those  who  expect  to  be  permanently  absent,  the  suggestion  may  prop- 
erly be  made,  not  by  the  correspondent,  but  by  some  special  communica- 
tion from  the  church,  that  it  would  be  better  for  them,  if  it  be  convenient, 
to  remove  their  relation  to  some  church  near  them,  with  which  they  may 
engage  in  work  and  worship.    .    .    . 

"  By  this  care  of  the  absentees,  the  pastor  would  have  one  of  his  anxieties 
removed,  and  one  of  the  loose  ends  of  the  church  administration  neatly 
picked  up  and  secured." — Washington  Gladden:  Parish  Problems. 


Lesson  17.    WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  THE  CHURCH. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  show  high  position  and  preponderating 
influence  of  woman  in  modem  Protestant  churches. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

A  brief  survey  of  the  position  of  woman  in  New  Testament  times  may 
be  set  in  a  stronger  light  by  comparing  it  with  that  under  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. For  information  on  both  of  these  points  consult  Bible  Dictionaries, 
articles  "  Womxn,"  "  Deaconess,"  "  Widows." 

The  most  valuable  information  concerning  the  inspiration  and  help 
given  by  Christian  missions  at  home  and  abroad  is  given  by  studying  the 
reports  of  the  Woman's  Missionary  Societies  in  the  denominational  year 
books.  Washington  Gladden 's  chapter  in  The  Christian  Pastor  is  largely 
devoted  to  a  discussion  of  the  order  of  deaconesses.  For  up-to-date 
information  on  the  growth  and  work  of  this  organization  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  see  the  Methodist    Year  Book  for  1912,  pp.  166-182. 

Practical  information  can  easily  be  gained  by  a  study  of  local  conditions, 
not  only  in  your  own  church,  but  in  other  churches  in  the  community. 
Try  to  discover  the  reasons  for  the  excessive  preponderance  of  female 
membership,  and  of  attendance  at  the  church  services.  Note  also  the 
efforts  that  have  been  made  on  a  very  extensive  scale  in  this  country  to 
remedy  this  condition  by  such  campaigns  as  the  "  Men  and  Religion 
Movement." 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  From  a  consideration  of  the  work  of  women  in 
the  church  we  pass  naturally  to  that  of  the  young  people  and  to  the  origin 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  17  45 

and  growth  of  societies  in  the  local  churches  devoted  exclusively  to  their 
instruction  in  religious  truth  and  training  in  Christian  service. 

Assign  to  one  of  the  members  of  the  class  the  preparation  of  a  very- 
brief  paper  descriptive  of  the  origin,  purpose,  growths,  and  methods  of 
work  in  the  Lend-a-Hand  Clubs.  Information  may  be  had  at  the  central 
office. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {1)  If  the  teacher  has  not  an  adequate 
Bible  Dictionary  at  hand,  the  following  brief  statement  respecting  wo- 
man's position  in  Old  Testament  times  may  be  helpful.  In  the  patriarchal 
period  it  was  comparatively  free  and  dignified.  Sarah,  Rebekah,  and 
Rachel  stood  on  the  same  social  planes  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob; 
Aliriam  ranked  with  Moses  and  Aaron ;  Deborah  and  Huldah  were  proph- 
etesses, the  former  exercising  also  the  high  office  of  judge.  Women 
took  part  in  nearly  aU  religious  matters  on  terms  of  apparent  equality 
with  men.  The  later  Old  Testament  period,  however,  witnessed  a  marked 
subjection  of  woman,  though  even  under  the  degrading  influence  of 
Rabbinism  she  never  sank  so  low  as  in  many  heathen  lands.  Influenced 
by  Rabbinic  ideas  of  the  social  and  religious  inferiority  of  women  the 
disciples  of  Jesus  "  marvelled  that  he  was  speaking  "  with  one  (Jo.  4:  27). 
The  same  low  idea  of  women  survives  in  the  modem  orthodox  synagogue 
as  indicated  by  this  thanksgiving  prescribed  in  a  Jewish  prayer  book, 
and  repeated  by  the  men,  "  O  Lord  God,  Eternal  King  of  the  Universe, 
I  thank  thee  that  thou  hast  not  made  me  a  woman,"  while  the  corre- 
sponding thanksgiving  humbly  uttered  by  the  women  reads',  "  O  Lord 
God,  Eternal  King  of  the  Universe,  I  thank  thee  that  thou  hast  made 
me  according  to  thy  will." 

{2)  "  The  place  of  woman  in  the  modern  church  is  not  that  which  she 
occupied  in  the  Apostolic  church  or  in  any  of  the  centuries  preceding  the 
Reformation,  It  is  equally  true  that  the  place  of  woman  in  the  state, 
in  the  community,  and  even  in  the  family,  is  unlike  that  to  which  she  was 
confined  in  the  days  of  Paul  the  Apostle.  From  a  position  of  subjection 
she  has  passed  into  one  of  social  equality.  The  natural  laws  are  not 
repealed,  and  the  relatioh  of  woman  to  man  will  always  be  what  nature 
has  ordained  that  it  shall  be;  but  the  race  has  come  to  understand  that 
differences  of  function  and  endowment  among  human  beings  do  not  neces- 
sarily signify  superiority  or  inferiority,  and  that,  since  we  must  all  stand 
before  the  judgment  seat  of  God,  there  ought  to  be  no  lordship  or  vassalage 
among  us.  .  .  . 

"  Whether  women  will,  in  any  considerable  numbers,  undertake  the 
work  of  the  regular  ministry  may  be  doubted.  In  those  communions 
which  have  opened  the  pastoral  office  to  them  they  do  not  seem  to  be 
eager  to  assume  it.  But  the  fields  of  labor  that  are  opened  to  them  in 
connection  with  the  work  of  the  local  church  are  wide  and  fruitful.  Their 
influence  in  its  councils  everywhere  is  pervasive  and  commanding.  They 
compose  about  two-thirds  of  our  American  Protestant  churches,  and  a 


46  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

far  larger  proportion  of  the  active  laborers  in  these  churches.  There  is 
no  longer  any  need  to  claim  for  woman  a  place  of  influence  and  power 
in  the  Christian  church." — Gladden:   The  Christian  Pastor,  pp.  289,  290. 

(3-5)  These  questions  are  answered  in  the  Less  n  Notes. 

{6)  The  growth  of  the  modern  deaconess  movement  is  outlined  in  the 
Methodist  Year  Book,  1912,  as  follows:  "  The  modern  deaconess  move- 
ment has  been  one  of  gradual  development.  First,  in  1836,  Theodore 
FHedner  began  in  Germany  a  work  whose  success  has  been  marvelous. 
Second,  in  1864,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Rev.  William  Pennefather, 
was  begun  the  celebrated  Mildmay  Deaconess  Work  in  North  London. 
Third,  in  1874,  deaconess  service  was  successfully  undertaken  among  the 
Methodists  in  Bremen,  Germany,  under  the  leadership  of  the  Rev.  G. 
Weiss.  Fourth,  in  America,  the  deaconess  work  was  begun  in  1849  by 
Rev.  W.  A.  Passavant,  a  pastor  in  the  Lutheran  church  in  Pittsburgh, 
Pa.,  but  not  until  twenty  years  later  did  the  Lutheran  church  succeed 
in  its  efforts  to  introduce  the  office  of  female  Diaconate.  Fifth,  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  church  laid  the  foundation  of  its  Deaconess  Institute 
in  the  United  States  some  years  earlier  than  did  the  Lutheran  church, 
but  the  work  within  this  church  is  still  in  its  prime  stages.  Sixth,  the 
most  comprehensive  deaconess  organization  within  the  United  States 
is  that  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  The  first  pioneer  of  this 
work  was  Mrs.  Anna  Wittemeyer,  who,  after  the  W^ar  of  the  Rebellion, 
gave  the  work  of  mercy  she  had  begun  on  the  battlefields  a  more  permanent 
form.  .  .  .  The  General  Conference  of  1888  indorsed  the  deaconess  move- 
ment, and  at  its  next  annual  meeting,  in  October  of  the  same  year,  the 
movement  became  a  legitimate  part  of  the  Woman's  Home  Missionary 
Society." 

The  Questions  for  Class  Discussion.  {1)  To  what  is  the  great  pre- 
ponderance of  women  in  modern  Protestant  churches  due? 

So  long  as  brute  force  was  dominant  in  human  society  woman  was 
necessarily  regarded  as  an  inferior  being.  But  since  spiritual  forces 
have  largely  displaced  brute  force  woman  has  risen  to  her  rightful  place, 
not  only  in  society  at  large,  but  especially  in  the  church  where  spiritual 
forces  are  recognized  and  invoked  more  than  anywhere  else. 

The  increasing  pressure  of  modem  life  has  placed  on  the  men  heavier 
and  more  absorbing  responsibilities.  The  women  have  naturally  a  greater 
spirituality  and  devotion,  and  they  have  also  greater  freedom  to  give 
thought  to  religious  matters,  and  to  service  where  it  has  been  needed. 

The  changed  emphasis  in  preaching  from  the  sterner  to  the  gentler 
divine  attributes  has  tended  to  feminize  Christianity  and  to  the  placing 
of  less  stress  on  the  work  of  the  church  as  "  a  man's  job." 

{2)  Would  the  establishment  of  an  order  of  women  (deaconesses,  or 
sisterhoods)  devoted  exclusively  to  the  furtherance  of  religious,  educa- 
tional, and  philanthropic  work,  with  assured  support  for  life,  be  expedient 
in  all  Christian  bodies? 

The   female   Diaconate   in   the   Methodist   Episcopal   church   has   not 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  18  47 

only  been  a  marvelously  successful  movement,  but  it  has  unquestionably 
been  a  powerful  agency  in  promoting  and  strengthening  the  work  of  that 
church.  The  work  done  by  the  deaconesses  is  described  by  the  head  of 
the  training  school  in  Washington,  D.  C. : 

"  Take  the  work  of  the  deaconess;  what  is  her  employment?  She  visits 
from  house  to  house  where  the  masses  are,  by  whom  the  church  so  sadly 
and  so  wrongly  is  regarded  as  a  social  club,  which  has  no  interest  in  them 
nor  to  them.  wShe  opens  industrial  schools  for  the  ignorant  and  helpless 
ones,  for  whom  the  word  home  has  no  associations,  and  who  have  never 
experienced  the  joy  and  blessedness  of  the  family.  She  gathers  the  children 
of  the  foreigners  into  kindergartens,  where,  along  the  avenues  of  the 
eye,  the  ear,  the  touch,  mercy  and  grace  shall  find  their  way  to  the  heart 
and  mind.  She  enters  the  dwellings  of  the  poor  and  sick  where  suffering 
is  unmitigated  by  the  soft  hand  of  love.  She  comforts  and  befriends  the 
victims  of  the  vices  and  sins  of  men.  vShe  consoles  and  counsels  the  deserted 
and  bereaved.  She  searches  out  the  widow  and  orphan  and  aids  them 
with  her  sympathy  and  charity.  She  brightens  with  her  presence  the 
cots  of  the  hospital  wards  and  directs  the  asylums  for  the  orphans  and 
the  aged.  She  soothes  the  last  hours  of  the  dying  with  helpful  messages 
from  the  Holy  Word." 

That  the  Roman  Catholic  church  has  discovered  in  its  sisterhoods  a 
most  valuable  agency  for  carrying  on  its  work,  is  shown  by  the  most 
superficial  acquaintance  with  their  history. 

Interview  the  pastor  of  a  Methodist  church  as  to  the  practical  value 
of  the  work  done  by  the  Methodist  deaconesses. 


Lesson  18.    YOUNG    PEOPLE'S    SOCIETIES:    HISTORY. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  give  an  impression  of  the  magnitude  of  recent 
young  people's  movements,  and  to  call  attention  to  some  of  the  leading 
organizations  which  it  has  produced. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Lesson  Notes  should  be  carefully  studied.  Get  acquainted  with 
the  work  done  by  the  young  people  in  your  own  church.  The  members 
of  the  various  organizations  represented  there  will  doubtless  be  able 
to  supply  more  or  less  literature  connected  with  each  one,  and  to  give 
personal  information  as  to  growth,  present  membership,  etc. 

Information  concerning  societies  not  represented  in  your  church  can 
easily  be  obtained  from  the  headquarters  of  each.  The  addresses  are 
given  in  the  Lesson  Notes. 

Observe  that  this  lesson  is  devoted  to  an  historical  survey  of  the  leading 
young  people's  societies  in  this  country,  and  that  their  methods  of  work 
will  be  considered  in  the  next  lesson. 


48  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  The  field  to  be  considered  in  a  survey  of  young 
people's  societies  is  so  large  as  to  call  for  two  lessons.  As  stated  above, 
the  present  lesson  is  limited  to  the  historical  side.  The  next  will  take 
up  a  study  of  the  methods  employed  by  these  societies  in  accomplishing 
their  several  purposes. 

Assign  to  some  member  of  the  class  the  preparation  of  a  brief  account 
of  the  origin,  purpose,  growth,  and  methods  of  work  among  the  Inter- 
national Order  of  King's  Daughters.  Information  may  be  had  by  writing 
to  the  headquarters  at  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  (1)  "It  is  barely  half  a  century  since 
the  young  people  of  our  American  Protestant  churches  first  began  to  be 
organized  for  Christian  work.  Nineteen  centuries  ago,  the  promise 
was  recalled  of  a  day  when  the  Spirit  should  be  poured  from  on  high 
upon  the  whole  church,  and  when  the  young  men  should  see  visions — 
presumably  visions  of  work  to  be  done,  for  these  are  the  visions  which 
the  Spirit  most  often  vouchsafes.  The  Apostle  John,  in  his  old  age,  wrote 
to  young  men  because  they  were  strong;  his  purpose  must  have  been  to 
enlist  their  strength  in  the  service  of  the  church.  By  those  who  reflected 
that  the  Apostolic  band  were  probably  all  young  men,  it  might  have  been 
conjectured  that  what  has  been  termed  "  the  young-man-power  "  could 
be  used  with  great  effect  in  the  work  of  the  church.^  But  this  hint  was 
tardily  taken  by  most  of  the  organized  ecclesiasticisms,  and  but  little 
provision  was  made  for  the  co-operation  of  the  young  men  and  women 
in  Christian  work." — Gladden:  The  Christian  Pastor,  p.  313. 

(^-5)  These  questions  are  sufficiently  covered  by  the  Lesson  Notes. 

{6,  7)  The  Christian  Endeavor  idea  had  been  in  operation  nearly  ten 
years  when  the  most  serious  problem  arose  that  had  as  yet  confronted  it, 
namely  the  determination  of  its  relation  to  the  denominational  young 
people's  societies  that  had  been  organized  among  the  Methodists  and 
Baptists.  The  former  body  in  the  United  States  has  steadfastly  retained 
its  principle  of  non-affiliation  with  the  original  Christian  Endeavor  move- 
ment. Elsewhere  three  solutions  have  been  accepted  by  different  branches 
of  the  church: 

"  One  is  that  of  the  Baptists,  who  admit  into  their  Baptist  Young  People's 
Union  all  Baptist  Christian  Endeavor  Societies,  without  change  of  name 
or  constitution.  Another  is  that  of  the  Methodists  of  Canada,  whose 
societies  are  changing  their  name  to  '  Epworth  League  of  Christian  En- 
deavor ' — Epworth  Leagues  and  Methodist  Christian  Endeavor  Societies 
thus  finding  a  common  meeting  ground.  The  third  and  most  widely 
accepted  solution  is  that  of  adoption  of  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society 
as  the  denominational  young  people's  societ}^,  denominational  authorities 
simply  recognizing  the  existence  of  the  Christian  Endeavor  Societies 
in  their  church,  and  fostering  and  guiding  the  movement  among  their 
own  young  people. 

"  The  method  of  settlement  adopted  by  the  Baptists  has  been  adopted 
also  by  the  Free  Baptists,  the  Evangelical  Association,  the  United  Brethren. 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  18  49 

and  the  United  Presbyterians.  By  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians, 
the  Disciples,  the  Moravians,  the  Friends,  the  Christians,  the  Congre- 
gationalists,  and  the  Methodist  Protestants,  Christian  Endeavor  has 
been  accepted  as  the  denominational  form  of  organization.  This  is 
practically  the  case  among  the  Presbyterians,  while  the  Lutherans  permit 
the  existence  and  growth  of  Lutheran  Christian  Endeavor  Societies  along- 
side of  Lutheran  Alliances.  In  foreign  countries  and  in  Canada,  with 
but  one  exception,  wherever  any  denominational  action  has  been  taken, 
the  society  has  been  formally  adopted." — Wells:  A  Short  History  of  the 
Christian  Endeavor  Movement,  pp.  9,  10. 

{10)  Critical  study  of  the  period  of  adolescence  has  shown  three  well- 
marked  subdivisions — early,  from  twelve  to  thirteen  years;  middle, 
from  fourteen  to  sixteen;  and  late,  from  seventeen  to  twenty  or  twenty- 
five.  The  middle  subdivision  is  the  distinctively  heroic  or  knightly 
period  in  the  boy's  growth,  when  the  gang  spirit  is  at  its  height,  when 
he  delights  in  tests  of  strength,  and  when  the  romantic  and  roaming  spirit 
is  predominant.  The  boy's  hero  is  the  strongest  member  of  the  gang  or 
some  outsider  a  little  older.  He  is  now  passing  through  that  stage  of 
development  which  in  the  history  of  the  human  race  has  its  almost  exact 
parallel  in  the  age  of  chivalry.  To  meet  these  traits.  Dr.  William  Byron 
Forbush,  after  a  careful  investigation  into  the  psychology  of  boyhood, 
planned  an  organization  which  he  called  the  Knights  of  King  Arthur, 
and  which  is  shown  by  the  test  of  wide  experience  to  appeal  successfully 
to  the  religious  instinct  of  boys  during  middle  adolescence.  While  es- 
pecially designed  to  meet  the  needs  of  individual  churches,  it  is  also  used 
in  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  and  in  public  and  private  schools. 

The  Order  of  the  Knights  of  the  Holy  Grail  appeals  to  the  same  heroic 
instincts  as  the  Knights  of  King  Arthur.  The  more  advanced  parts  of 
its  ritual  is  designed  for  young  men  from  twenty  years  of  age  to  twenty- 
five.     This  organization  also  is  interdenominational. 

The  Knights  of  Methodism  embraces  three  orders  designed  for  boys 
from  nine  years  of  age  upwards.  The  first,  the  Order  of  the  Loyal  Princes, 
is  based  on  the  refusal  of  the  three  young  Hebrew  princes  to  eat  of  the 
king's  food  or  drink  of  his  wine;  the  second,  the  Order  of  Victors,  is  based 
on  the  story  of  their  refusal  to  bow  down  to  the  golden  image  of  king 
Nebuchadnezzar;  and  the  third,  the  Order  of  the  Lion-Hearted,  is  built 
around  Daniel's  willingness  to  be  cast  into  the  den  of  lions  rather  than 
deny  his  God. 

The  Questions  for  Class  Discussion.  Which  is  more  advantageous 
for  a  church,  a  denominational  or  an  interdenominational  organization 
of  its  young  people? 

The  advantages  claimed  for  a  denominational  organization  are  that  it 
enables  the  denomination  to  retain  control  over  all  local  organizations, 


50  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

to  direct  their  activities,  to  inculcate  denominational  beliefs  and  practices, 
and  to  discourage  a  free  intermingling  of  the  young  people  of  various 
churches  that  may  tend  to  loosen  denominational  ties  and  promote  drift- 
ing from  one  denomination  to  another. 

Those  who  favor  interdenominational  organization  claim,  on  the  other 
hand  {1)  that  this  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  utmost  denominational 
loyalty,  since  it  is  the  province  of  each  local  church  to  inculcate  its  own 
beHefs  and  practices  to  the  utmost;  {2)  that  there  is  fully  as  much  need 
of  emphasizing  the  vital  matters  which  the  churches  hold  in  common 
as  the  minor  matters  that  hold  them  apart;  {3)  that  an  interdenomina- 
tional organization,  such  as  Christian  Endeavor,  which  emphasizes  loyalty 
to  one's  own  church,  is  in  harmony  with  the  trend  of  modem  Christian 
thought  that  seeks  to  unite  the  churches  of  Christ  into  a  hearty  coopera- 
tion against  the  evils  of  the  world,  rather  than  to  perpetuate  past  aliena- 
tions; and  (A)  that  the  occasional  meeting  of  young  people  of  different 
churches  on  a  common  ground  of  loyalty  to  Christ  and  interest  in  His 
service  enlarges  their  ideas  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  stimulates  them 
to  increased  activity  on  their  own  fields.  These  advantages  have  seemed 
to  many  Christian  bodies  so  far  to  outweigh  those  claimed  for  exclusively 
denominational  control  as  to  lead  them  to  adopt  the  interdenominational 
form  of  organization.  See  the  extract  from  Wells'  Short  History,  under 
questions  5,  7,  above. 


Lesson  19.     YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  SOCIETIES:  METHODS. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  create  an  intelligent  interest  in  the  distinctive 
aims  of  the  leading  young  people's  societies,  and  to  indicate  the  methods 
by  which  those  aims  are  realized. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Lesson  Notes  give  information  respecting  the  main  points  relating 
to  each  of  the  more  prominent  young  people's  organizations.  If  the 
teacher  supplements  the  history  of  these  organizations  as  outlined  in 
Lfesson  18  with  literature  pertaining  to  each,  this  will  doubtless  supply 
an  abundance  of  further  information  concerning  methods.  Gather  as 
many  facts  as  possible  about  the  societies  mentioned  in  the  lesson  so  as 
to  be  able  to  answer  questions  that  may  arise  in  the  class.  Possibly  in 
the  teacher's  own  church,  or  in  neighboring  churches,  there  are  other 
societies  than  those  here  noted.  If  so,  get  acquainted  with  their  aims 
and  methods,  and  tell  the  class  about  them. 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  19  51 

It  is  surprising  what  dense  ignorance  respecting  other  young  people's 
societies  than  their  own  is  found  not  only  among  average  church  people, 
but  even  among  persons  whose  official  stations  would  seem  to  require  a 
broader  outlook  on  the  field  of  Christian  activities.  The  teacher  should 
encourage  the  members  of  the  class  to  study  these  two  lessons  with  the 
purpose  of  getting  an  intelligent  and  sympathetic  idea  of  what  is  going 
on  outside  of  their  purview.  Such  a  study  will  be  fruitful  in  suggestions 
for  bettering  the  work  in  their  own  society. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  The  next  lesson,  on  the  Pastor's  Parish  Work, 
may  seem  to  be  of  interest  chiefly  to  ministers.  It  is  not,  however,  intro- 
duced for  the  purpose  of  instructing  them  concerning  their  duties,  but 
to  give  the  young  people  in  the  parish  such  an  idea  of  the  nature  of  this 
work  as  will  enable  them  to  cooperate  with  the  pastor  in  ways  that  may 
mean  only  a  small  effort  to  them,  but  which,  in  the  aggregate,  will  mean 
much  to  him. 

This  lesson  affords  a  good  opportunity  to  hear  from  the  pastor  himself 
in  a  ten  minutes'  talk  about  some  things  that  may  not  come  within  the 
scope  of  his  ordinary  public  addresses. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {2,  S)  The  scope  of  the  work  in  a  Chris- 
tian Endeavor  Society  is  well  stated  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Francis  E.  Clark, 
its  founder.  It  "  is  a  purely  religious  organization,  though  there  may  be 
social  features,  literary  features,  and  musical  features  connected  with 
it.  In  fact,  the  society  is  meant  to  do  anything  that  the  church  wishes 
to  have  it  do.  It  may  relieve  the  destitute,  visit  the  sick,  furnish  flowers 
for  the  pulpit,  replenish  the  missionary  treasuries,  build  up  the  Sunday 
school,  awaken  an  interest  in  the  temperance  cause,  preach  a  White 
Cross  crusade.  The  inspiration  for  all  these  manifold  forms  of  service 
comes  from  the  weekly  prayer  meeting,  which  is  always  a  vital  matter 
in  a  Christian  Endeavor  Society.  The  prayer  meeting  pledge,  while 
no  uniformity  of  language  is  insisted  upon,  binds  the  young  disciple  to 
daily  private  devotions,  to  loyal  support  of  his  own  church,  and  to  attend- 
ance and  participation  in  the  weekly  prayer  meeting,  unless  prevented 
by  a  reason  which  he  can  conscientiously  give  to  his  Master.  This, 
perhaps,  is  the  most  vital  and  important  thing  in  the  society.  It  has 
rejuvenated  and  revived  the  young  people's  prayer  meeting  in  all  parts 
of  the  world  and  has  poured  new  life  into  the  other  services  of  the  church." 

The  expediency  of  fusing  the  Jimior  Christian  Endeavor  Society  with 
the  Junior  Department  in  the  Sunday  school  has  received  careful  attention 
from  the  leaders  of  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society.  The  subject  is  too 
large  to  be  discussed  here.  For  information  apply  to  the  headquarters 
at  Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  Mass. 

(4,  ^  "  The  [Ep worth]  League  is  organized  up  to  a  point  where  the 
gain  in  chapters  and  members  cannot  be  large  during  any  year,  and 
must  fluctuate  according  to  the  state  of  the  church." 


52  The  Bible  Sttidy  Union  Lessons 

"  'The  Morning  Watch,' a  pledge  to  engage  every  morning  in  Bible 
reading  and  prayer,  continues  to  be  a  leading  factor  in  the  development 
of  the  spiritual  life  of  the  Epworthians.  On  the  first  Sunday  of  the  new 
year  the  regular  devotional  meetings  of  the  local  chapters  are  given  to 
the  subject  of  the  Morning  Watch.  The  enroUment  is  increased  by  thous- 
ands every  year." — Methodist   Year  Book,  1913. 

(7)  The  Lend-a-Hand  Clubs  are  by  no  means  limited  to  a  membership 
of  ten.  The  Club  in  Davenport,  Iowa,  is  a  fine  example  of  the  proportions 
such  an  organization  may  attain.  It  was  started  in  1887  by  three  girls 
who  met  at  noon  to  eat  their  lunch  together,  and  through  twenty-five 
years  of  helpfulness  to  one  another  and  to  the  community  it  has  grown 
to  four  hundred  and  fifty  members.  The  practical  nature  of  the  work 
done  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  during  1911  classes  were  carried  on  in  gym- 
nastics, cooking,  German,  correct  English,  and  sewing. 

"  There  are  three  departments:  the  Woman's  Exchange,  the  Cafeteria 
and  the  Club  proper. 

"  The  Woman's  Exchange  caters  to  women  who  cannot  work  outside 
their  homes,  but  who  may  send  articles  to  the  Club  to  be  sold.  Last 
year  $3,000  went  out  to  such  women. 

"  The  Cafeteria  provides  a  substantial  noonday  meal  at  small  cost 
and  serves  almost  two  hundred  persons  daily. 

"  The  Club  department  embraces  so  many  different  lines  of  effort 
that  to  define  it  closely  would  be  difficult." — Lend-a-Hand  Leaflet,  July 
and  August,  1912,  pp.  6,  7. 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.  What  is  the  true  mission  of  a 
young  people's  society  connected  with  a  church? 

1,  To  Emphasize  the  Principle  of  Obligation.  Young  persons  should 
be  disabused  of  the  notion  that  they  have  gone  into  the  church  chiefly 
to  insure  their  salvation  in  another  world,  and  they  should  be  taught  that 
they  are  to  work  out  their  own  salvation  in  this  world  by  loving  helpful 
service  for  God  toward  men. 

2,  To  Emphasize  the  Privilege  of  Christian  Fellowship.  This  fellow- 
ship embraces  the  entire  church.  A  young  people's  society  that  separates 
itself  from  the  older  membership,  that  slips  away  after  the  young  people's 
meeting,  that  is  not  in  evidence  at  the  Sunday  services  nor  at  the  week- 
day prayer  meeting,  that  sets  itself  up  as  the  most  important  part  of  the 
church  and  regards  its  own  interests  as  primary  in  all  church  affairs, 
especially  the  choice  of  a  pastor,  such  a  society  is  a  positive  hindrance 
to  the  welfare  of  the  church.  "  There  is  nothing,"  says  Dr.  Munger, 
"  more  detestable  in  American  society  than  the  drawing  off  of  young 
people  into  a  society  of  their  own.  There  is  not  only  a  strong  flavor  of 
vulgarity  in  it,  but  a  positive  loss  on  both  sides."  Every  young  people's 
organization  should  recognize  itself  as  simply  a  part  of  the  Christian 
fellowship,  no  more,  no  less;  not  existing  for  its  own  sake,  but  for  the 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  20  53 

church;  not  set  to  rule  the  church,  but  to  be  trained  for  larger  responsi- 
biUties  and  for  bearing  heavier  burdens. 

Furthermore,  every  young  people's  society  should  reahze  a  genuine 
fellowship  among  the  young  people  themselves,  remembering  that  these 
include  both  sexes.  At  present  the  majority  of  these  societies  are  com- 
posed of  two-thirds  young  women  to  one-third,  or  even  less,  of  young  men. 
While  this  is  a  condition  found  throughout  most  churches,  the  young 
people's  societies  must  learn,  what  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 
have  learned  long  ago,  that  their  methods  must  be  adapted  to  the  instincts 
and  activities  of  the  boy. 

3.  To  Emphasize  the  Duty  of  Semce.  The  young  people's  society 
should  be  a  training  school  in  which  the  members  are  taught  how  to  go 
about  doing  good  even  as  Christ  did.  Just  as  the  manual  training  school 
is  designed  to  fit  for  efficiency  in  industrial  life,  just  as  the  business  college 
fits  for  efficiency  in  commercial  life,  just  as  the  law  school  or  medical 
school  fits  for  efficiency  in  professional  life,  so  should  the  young  people's 
society  fit  for  efficiency  in  the  religious  life.  To  do  this  requires  methods 
carefully  thought  out,  and  wisely  adapted  to  the  ends  in  view.  A  society 
with  this  purpose  and  equipped  to  do  this  work  will  prove  a  wellspring 
of  blessings  to  the  church. 


Lesson  20.    THE  PASTOR'S  PARISH  WORK. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  create  an  intelligent  desire  to  cooperate 
with  the  pastor  in  the  changed  conditions  of  his  parish  work. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Notes  on  the  Lesson  show  how  the  pastor's  parish  work  has  been 
radically  changed  by  modern  cmditions.  As  in  a  previous  lesson  it  was 
shown  how  he  must  accommodate  his  pulpit  work  to  the  demands  of  the 
present  age,  so  in  this  lesson  the  need  of  a  similar  accommodation  is  shown 
in  respect  to  his  work  outside  of  the  pulpit.  For  this  reason  the  only 
practically  useful  treatises  on  "  Pastoral  Theology,"  as  this  part  of  a 
minister's  vocation  is  sometimes  called,  are  those  that  deal  with  it  from 
the  modem  point  of  view.  If  there  is  no  public  library  at  hand  with 
books  relative  to  this  department,  the  pastor  will  probably  have  one  or 
more  volumes  that  he  would  be  glad  to  lend.  Ask  him  also  to  suggest 
ways  in  which  the  members  of  the  class  may  be  able  to  render  him  some 
assistance  in  those  parts  of  the  parish  work  which  do  not  devolve  exclu- 


54  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

sively   on   the    minister.     Any    one    of    the    volumes   mentioned   in  the 
pupil's  lesson  will  prove  helpful. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  Our  next  two  lessons  deal  with  a  part  of  church 
administration  which  in  a  majority  of  cases  furnishes  occasion  for  anxious 
thought.  Church  finances  constitute  too  often  a  heavy  load  for  the  pastor 
whose  living  depends  on  them.,  and  for  the  treastuer  who  has  to  look  out 
for  the  church  expenses.  In  our  next  lesson  we  shall  consider  the  making 
up  of  a  church  budget. 

The  teacher  might  ask  some  member  of  the  class  to  obtain  from  the 
church  treasurer  an  itemized  statement  of  the  budget  for  the  preceding 
year,  and  present  it  for  study  in  the  class. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {5,  6)  "A  marked  difference  between 
the  pastor  of  the  old  time  and  of  the  present  is  to  be  noted.  He  was 
frequently  called  '  priest' ;  and  as  he  moved  among  his  flock  he  maintained 
a  distinction  in  manner  and  dress  that  marked  him  as  one  '  set  apart.' 
A  pastor  undistinguished  from  others  in  outward  appearance,  and  mingling 
freely  with  his  people,  even  in  their  games,  would  have  been  regarded  as 
seriously  compromising  his  dignity  and  hazarding  his  usefulness.  Many 
of  us  can  recall  the  way  in  which  a  minister  formerly  carried  himself, 
the  prestige  which  clothed  his  position,  the  authority  with  which  he  was 
invested.  We  are  then  reminded  that  no  such  sanctity  surrounds  him 
now,  that  he  has  been  stripped  of  all  that  prestige,  and  has  no  such  au- 
thority clothing  his  utterances.  A  change  has  taken  place;  and  while 
it  may  involve  some  loss,  we  believe  that  on  the  whole  it  secures  great 
gain  to  the  true  and  earnest  man.  ...  A  minister  now  may  be  thankful 
that  he  is  permitted  to  move  freely  among  inen,  to  influence  them  by 
example  and  contagion,  and  is  not  called  to  be  separate  or  to  magnify 
himself.  .  .  .  The  real  value  of  his  service  to  his  people  will  be  found  in 
his  personal  and  spiritual,  rather  than  in  his  official  and  ecclesiastical 
relations  to  them.  His  usefulness  among  them  will  be  due  not  to  any 
process  by  which  he  is  elevated  above  them  or  separated  from  them,  but 
to  a  character  which  in  its  fiillest  sense  he  shares  with  them." — Pratt:  in 
Recent  Christian  Progress,  pp.  351,  352. 

(9)  The  careful  pastor  will  make  a  systematic  visitation  of  his  people, 
omitting  neither  the  rich  nor  the  poor.  "  One  thing  he  will  not  do,  and 
that  is  to  offer  prayer  in  every  house,  because  no  man  can  pray  four  times 
an  hour  for  an  afternoon  without  the  most  miserable  formahty,  and  be- 
cause prayer  ought  to  spring  out  of  the  occasion.  There  are  moments 
when  conversation  moves  onwards  till  it  reaches  the  brink  of  prayer. 
The  visit  then  culminates  and  completes  itself  in  prayer,  and  the  petitions 
come  from  the  heart.  After  which  the  pastor  instantly  leaves,  bidding 
his  people  good-bye  before  the  Throne  of  Grace,  and  in  the  very  presence 
of  the  Lord." — Ian  Maclaren:  The  Cure  of  Souls,  p.  230. 

(10)  Recall  how  finely  Goldsmith  in  his  description  of  the  village  pastor 
depicted  his    unbounded  charity  and    his  sympathy  with  all  kinds    of 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  20  55 

distress,  using  every  avenue  of  approach  to  the  inner  life  to  point  the  way 
to  the  higher: 

Thus  to  reKeve  the  wretched  was  his  pride, 
And  ev'n  his  failings  leaned  to  virtue's  side; 
But  in  his  duty  prompt,  at  every  call, 
He  watched  and  wept,  he  prayed  and  felt,  for  aU: 
And,  as  a  bird  each  fond  endearment  tnes    _ 
To  tempt  its  new-fledged  offspring  to  the  skies. 
He  tried  each  art,  reproved  each  dull  delay. 
Allured  to  brighter  worlds,  and  led  the  way. 

(If)  "  People  come  to  a  true  pastor,  more  than  you  might  thiiik,  with 
their  home  problems,  how  yonder  invalid  is  to  be  provided  for,  how  this 
son  or  daughter  is  to  go  to  college,  when  there  isn  t  bread  enough  to  go 
round,  how  a  neighbor  who  is  a  born  mule  is  to  be  made  over  into  anything 

^^^"*A  voung  minister  settled  in  a  farming  community  gained  a  reputation 
without  knowing  it  by  the  way  he  answered  a  question  which  two  farmers 
brought  to  him,  thiilking  to  entrap  him.  Shall  that  piece  of  land  be 
put  to  com  or  to  oats?'  they  asked  him.  The  young  theologue,  who 
had  mother  wit,  but  no  more  knowledge  of  farming  than  of  Sanskrit, 
answered  with  solemnity,  '  I  should  let  it  go  to  grass!'  They  took  the  reck- 
less bit  of  slang  as  an  expert  judgment,  and  his  fortune  was  made    .  .  . 

"  The  man  who  means  to  mean  much  as  a  Christian  minister  will  dis- 
cover that  the  home  is  the  nerve  of  the  parish.  Why  should  it  not  be? 
The  child  is  there— and  the  dead.  The  very  dwelling,  as  I  ^  once  heard 
Beecher  say,  is  '  stained  through  and  through  with  soul  color,  and  every- 
thing pastoral  depends  upon  the  way  in  which  the  pastor  is  able  to  enter 
that  home  door.  ,  j       t,     • 

"  Now  what  such  a  home  needs  in  its  minister  is  a  comrade  who  is  so 
much  a  comrade  that  by  the  sheer  weight  of  wise  love  he  becomes  ht 
counsellor.  The  function  of  counsel  grows  naturally  out  of  the  fellowship 
of  the  friend."— Lyman:  The  Christian  Pastor  in  the  New  Age,  pp.  54,  55. 

The  Questions  for  Class  Discussion.  {1)  In  \new  of  Acts  6:2  is  it 
right  to  put  on  the  pastor  the  burden  of  parish  administration? 

The  Christian  pastor  to-day  is  expected  to  be  to  a  church  what  a  general 
manager  is  to  a  department  store  with  its  dozen  or  more  departments,  each 
under  its  own  head  who  gives  undivided  attention  to  the  promotion  of 
its  interests  and  who  is  expected  to  see  that  each  employee  does  the  work 
assigned  to  him  and  does  it  well.  So  the  pastor  is  expected  to  make 
himself  acquainted  with  the  work  of  every  official,  committee,  and  or- 
ganization in  the  church,  and  to  see  that  the  work  assigned  to  each  is 
done  in  an  orderly  and  effective  way,  that  the  methods  employed  are 
in  keeping  with  a  Christian  spirit,  and  that  all  co-operate  for  the  pro- 
motion of  spiritual  ends.  The  pastor  cannot  leave  to  others  the  oversight 
of  the  various  organizations  of  his  church,  yet  in  becoming  an  organizer 
he  must  not  cease  being  a  pastor.  He  must  "  carry  the  rich,  full,  devoted 
tone  of  the  pastoral  spirit  into  every  fibre  and  filament  of  his  adminis- 
trative functions.     The   parish   machine   must  not  be   a   machine.     It 


56  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

must  have  soul,  and  its  soul  must  be  love.  All  the  numberless  subsidiary 
departments  and  agencies  of  the  church  propaganda  are  to  be  shot  through 
with  a  peculiar  temper  and  glow,  which  is  distinctively  pastoral,  which 
nobody  but  the  live  pastor,  who  is  never  anything  other  than  a  pastor, 
can  introduce  and  maintain." 


Lesson  21.    MAKING  UP  A  CHURCH  BUDGET. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  show  the  advantages  of  a  budget  in  the 
administration  of  church  finances. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

Get  at  the  outset  a  clear  idea  of  the  difference  between  a  budget  and  a 
financial  report.  It  is  surprising  how  many  intelligent  persons  confuse 
the  two.  Ask  a  treasurer  or  a  member  of  a  finance  committee  for  a  church 
budget  and  the  chances  are  that  in  the  majority  of  cases  you  will  be  handed 
a  report.  A  report  is  a  statement  of  actual  receipts  and  expenditures 
during  the  year  that  is  closing.  A  budget  is  an  estimate  based  on  this 
report  of  the  anticipated  receipts  and  expenditures  for  the  coming  year. 
The  one  deals  with  exact  figures,  the  other  with  approximate  figures, 
except  in  fixed  items  such  as  salaries.  There  is  little  assistance  to  be 
obtained  from  literature.  If  a  half  a  dozen  budgets  from  churches  of 
different  denominations  can  be  procured  they  may  give  some  interesting 
local  details,  but  in  the  main  they  will  confirm  the  deductions  made  from 
those  tabulated  in  the  lesson.  The  value  of  the  lesson  lies  in  the  emphasis 
it  places  on  the  importance  of  the  budget  in  a  sound  administration  of 
the  business  side  of  the  church. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  After  determining  the  amount  of  revenue  needed 
to  meet  the  operating  expenses  of  the  church,  as  indicated  in  the  budget, 
the  next  problem  is  to  procure  the  funds.  The  next  lesson  will  discuss 
the  viarious  means  employed,  with  their  advantages  and  disadvantages. 

Ask  some  member  of  the  class  to  prepare  a  brief  written  statement 
respecting  the  method  of  raising  funds  in  his  or  her  own  church,  and  its 
advantages  and  disadvantages. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  (2)  "A  great  mistake  has  been  made 
in  connection  with  the  financial  department  of  the  Lord's  work,  when 
that  department  has  been  divorced  from  spiritual  relations,  or  when  we 
have  lost  sight  of  the  spiritual  enrichment  God  intended  this  part  of  His 
work  to  bring  to  His  people.     The  fact  that  God  has  made  the  progress 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  21  57 

of  His  kingdom  in  the  world  depend  upon  the  use  of  material  resources, 
lifts  the  financial  movements  for  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  to  a 
high  level.  Inasmuch  as  under  present  conditions  the  world  cannot  be 
evangelized  without  money  offerings,  any  proper  efforts  to  secure  the 
necessary  funds  should  not  be  classed  as  unspiritual,  but  should  be  placed 
on  as  high  a  spiritual  plane  as  anything  we  do  in  either  the  pulpit  or  the 
prayer  meeting  in  the  interest  of  the  work.  That  man  is  narrow  in  his 
spiritual  apprehensions  who  objects  to  the  discussion  of  the  money  matters 
of  the  kingdom  in  the  pulpit.  In  his  mind  money  is  utterly  divorced 
from  spiritual  relations.  While  he  pretends  to  a  zeal  for  spiritual  teaching 
in  the  pulpit  his  own  selfishness  and  stinginess  are  too  often  the  real  reasons 
for  the  objection  he  makes." — Charles  A.  Cook. 

{5)  So  long  as  one  of  the  great  functions  of  the  church  is  the  proclama- 
tion of  the  Gospel  suitable  arrangments  must  be  provided  for  it.  The 
large  audience  room  is  a  necessity.  Moreover,  the  chief  revenues  of 
the  church  are  derived,  in  connection  with  the  preaching  service,  from 
rented  pews  or  voluntary  offerings.  This  explains  why  in  ordinary  church 
budgets  by  far  the  largest  part  of  the  church  funds  must  go  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  public  worship.  It  is  only  in  churches  where  the  income 
greatly  exceeds  the  operating  expenses  that  social  services  not  specifically 
religious  can  be  undertaken  on  any  large  scale.  The  justification  for 
putting  so  large  a  part  of  the  church  revenues  into  maintaining  a  big 
audience  room  that  stands  empty  all  but  a  few  hours  every  week,  into  a 
pastor's  salary,  and  into  music  is  that  the  existence  of  the  church  depends 
on  it.  The  $6,500  expended  for  music,  for  example,  in  budget  No.  1  in 
the  table,  may  seem  extravagant,  but  it  doubtless  is  a  large  factor  in  pro- 
ducing the  $45,000  income. 

{6)  The  average  church  rises  or  falls  with  its  Sunday  school.  Many 
churches  are  strong  and  prosperous  because  they  have  seen  the  wisdom  of 
making  generous  provision  for  the  school,  while  others  are  weak  and  small 
because  they  have  starved  the  source  of  supply.  Money  expended  in 
maps,  appliances,  textbooks,  music,  teachers'  library,  teacher  training, 
moderate  compensation  for  competent  teachers  in  important  classes  or 
departments,  will  come  back  in  manifold  measure.  Good  harvests  re- 
quire a  good  soil. 

{8)  See  Lesson  23,  on  The  Boy  Problem. 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.  Why  should  every  church,  whether 
large  or  small,  be  presented  with  a  budget  at  the  beginning  of  each 
financial  year? 

First,  it  win  tend  to  check  making  appropriations  when  there  are  no 
means  in  sight  to  meet  them.  For  example,  a  certain  church  whose 
income  and  outgo  had  for  years  barely  balanced  each  other  voted,  in  a 
spasm  of  generosity  or  justice,  to  add  $300  to  the  pastor's  salary.     No 


58  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

steps  were  taken  to  increase  the  receipts.  At  the  end  of  the  year,  there 
was  a  deficit  of  $300.  Then  the  pastor  went  to  another  church.  Another 
came.  During  his  first  year  every  suggestion  touching  greatly  needed 
repairs  was  met  by  the  objection,  "  Not  so  long  as  we  are  owing  $300  at 
the  bank."  Nor  was  any  means  taken  to  clear  it  away  until  a  kind  Provi- 
dence sent  a  gale  that  blew  over  a  part  of  the  steeple  and  compelled  the 
raising  of  ten  times  as  much. 

Secondly,  a  budget  will  reveal  serious  disproportions  in  the  various 
items  of  church  expenditures,  and  in  many  cases  not  only  lead  to  vigorous 
efforts  to  remove  the  disproportion,  but  to  a  revelation  of  latent  ability 
in  the  church  that  surprises  its  membership.  For  example,  some  ten 
years  ago,  Plymouth  Congregational  Church,  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  one 
of  the  wealthiest  churches  in  the  northwest,  was  giving  a  thousand  dollars 
or  less  a  year  to  missions.  The  money  was  raised  in  a  haphazard  way 
through  collections.  When  Dr.  Hallock  went  there,  he  introduced  a 
budget  of  two  parts,  home  support  and  church  benevolences.  In  1911 
the  latter  had  reached  the  sum  of  more  than  $12,000,  and  the  plan  has 
been  widely  adopted  in  other  churches.  The  same  plan  will  also  help 
to  increase  the  income  for  home  expenses. 

Thirdly,  a  budget  sets  before  the  church  a  definite  financial  goal  to 
be  reached  during  the  year.  Small  but  persistent  efforts  to  prevent  a 
deficit  will  scarcely  be  felt,  whereas  facing  a  considerable  deficit  at  the 
end  of  the  year  is  always  discouraging,  and  usually  requires  a  strenuous 
effort  for  its  removal. 


Lesson  22.    RAISING  CHURCH  FUNDS. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  surv^ey  the  more  common  methods  of  provid- 
ing for  church  expenses  and  beneficences  with  a  view  to  stimulating  in- 
telligent and  liberal  giving. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

In  addition  to  the  Lesson  Notes  the  teacher  should  give  special  attention 
to  the  methods  used  in  his  own  and  in  neighboring  churches  to  raise  funds. 
Study  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  each  method.  If  the  denomi- 
nation to  which  the  class  belongs  has  not  introduced  the  apportionment 
method,  write  to  the  missionary  headquarters  for  further  information 
or  get  it  from  the  pastor. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  The  next  lesson  takes  up  a  study  of  the  "Boy 
Problem."     It  has  received  wide  attention   during   recent  years,   since 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  22  59 

the  strength  and  efficiency  of  the  church  of  the  future  depends  largely 
on  keeping  and  training  the  boy  of  to-day. 

Get  two  or  more  members  of  the  class  to  recall  in  brief  statements 
the  several  spontaneous  groups  or  gangs  of  which  they  were  members 
in  their  boyhood,  and  the  leading  motives  that  influenced  them  as  mem- 
bers of  the  gang.  If  the  class  is  made  up  of  young  women  substitute  social 
sets  for  gangs. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {1)  Note  that  every  church  is  confronted 
by  a  twofold  duty,  that  of  providing  means  for  carrying  on  its  own  local 
work  and  of  contributing  toward  the  evangelization  of  the  world.  It 
can  do  the  most  for  the  latter  cause  only  when  it  has  most  effectually 
equipped  itself  for  the  former.  He  would  be  a  foolish  man  who  in  order 
to  provide  better  for  his  family  would  starve  himself.  On  the  other 
hand  for  a  church  to  live  only  for  itself  is  equally  ruinous.  Compare 
the  rapid  decline  of  the  so-called  Anti-mission  Baptists  during  the  last 
century  with  the  extraordinary  growth  of  those  who  with  enthusiasm 
engaged  in  the  promotion  of  missions  in  every  part  of  the  world. 

{2-Ji)  These  questions  are  covered  by  Notes  2  and  3. 

(5)  "  The  annual  sale  of  sittings  in  the  church  to  the  highest  bidder 
is  a  practice  which  violates  the  fundamental  principles  of  Christian  frater- 
nity. It  offers  place  and  distinction  in  the  church  to  the  longest  purses; 
it  says  to  the  man  with  a  gold  ring  and  goodly  apparel,  '  You  may  sit 
here,  in  the  center  aisle,  for  you  have  the  money  to  pay  for  the  best'; 
but  to  the  poor  man  in  vile  raiment  it  says,  *  Stand  out  there  in  the  vesti- 
bule, or  sit  here  under  the  gallery;  you  must  wait  for  your  place  till  your 
betters  have  chosen  their  seats.'  The  sale  of  privilege  in  the  church  for 
money  is  the  essence  of  it;  how  this  differs  in  principle  from  the  simony 
against  which  the  curse  of  the  church  has  been  pronounced  from  the 
Apostolic  days  until  now,  it  is  difficult  to  explain.  It  is  undoubtedly 
true  that  larger  revenues  can  be  raised  by  this  method  than  by  any  other, 
for  there  are  multitudes  who  will  pay  well  for  conspicuous  sittings  and 
whose  contributions  .would  be  small  if  they  were  compelled  to  take  their 
chances  with  aU  the  rest.  But  a  church  which  resorts  to  such  methods 
for  raising  money  is  not  apt  to  receive  the  benedictions  of  Christ's  poor. 
By  the  very  terms  of  its  life  they  are  practically  excluded;  self-respecting 
people  do  not  wish  to  go  where  *  the  rich  man's  aisle  '  and  *  the  poor  man's 
corner  '  are  easily  pointed  out." — Gladden:  The  Christian  Pastor  and  the 
Working  Church,  pp.  206,  207. 

{6-7)  These  questions  are  answered  In  the  notes. 

(<§)  Under  this  question  add  the  following  from  Dr.  Gladden:  "  The 
assignment  of  the  sittings  in  the  church  is  part  of  the  business  that  greatly 
needs  to  be  Christianized.  In  some  churches  all  sittings  are  absolutely 
free,  and  there  is  no  need  of  any  distribution.  For  many  reasons  this 
plan  is  to  be  preferred.  To  have  no  individual  rights  or  reservations  in 
the  Lords'  house,  but  to  open  the  whole  of  it,  each  Sabbath  day,  to  all 
who  come,  is  the  simplest  of  all  arrangements.  But  there  are  many 
with  whom  the  sentiment  of  locaHty  is  strong;  who  like  to  sit  week- by  week 


60  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

in  the  accustomed  place,  and  to  have  their  families  with  them;  and  there 
seems  to  be  no  violation  of  the  principles  of  equality  and  fraternity  if 
temporary  assignments  of  sittings  are  made  to  regular  worshipers.  It 
is  only  necessary  that  the  method  of  selection  be  something  other  than 
commercial  competition,  and  that  frequent  redistributions  take  place,  so 
that  the  most  desirable  places  be  not  permanently  monopolized.  .  .  . 
When  the  poor  widow  who  contributes  but  five  cents  a  week  to  the  revenues 
of  the  church  has  the  same  opportunity  of  securing  the  best  seat  in  the 
middle  aisle  as  the  rich  merchant  who  contributes  ten  dollars  a  week, 
the  opprobrium  of  ecclesiastical  finance  is  practically  wiped  out.  The 
point  is  to  bring  the  rich  merchant  to  accept  this  situation  heartily;  to 
be  quite  willing  to  take  his  chance  of  a  back  seat  under  the  gallery.  And 
this  is  by  no  means  a  visionary  proposition;  churches  can  be  found  in 
which  the  Christian  law  governs  even  the  distribution  of  pews.  .  .  .  And 
when  this  spirit  takes  possession  of  the  church  and  rules  in  all  its  affairs, 
the  kingdom  seems  near  at  hand.  JMo  more  effectual  work  of  grace 
could  be  desired  in  many  of  our  churches  than  would  be  signalized  by  the 
distribution  of  the  sittings  of  the  church  on  Christian  principles." 
(9-10)  Answered  in  the  notes. 

The  Questions  for  Discussion.  (1)  How  can  church  members  be  trained 
to  systematic  and  generous  giving? 

x\ny  one  who  has  undertaken  to  raise  money  for  a  benevolent,  educa- 
tional, or  religious  enterprise  has  not  failed  to  notice  the  responsiveness 
of  some  individuals  and  the  unresponsiveness  of  others.  If  these  diver- 
sities were  confined  to  individuals  one  might  infer  that  they  were  inborn 
traits  of  character.  But  the  same  dispositions  are  noticed  in  churches 
and  communities.  A  member  of  a  wealthy  Congregational  church  in 
suburban  Boston  asked  a  man  who  was  soliciting  funds  for  a  Western 
college  why  he  came  East  when  the  Western  banks  were  fairly  choked 
with  deposits  realized  from  extraordinary  harvests.  His  reply  was,  "  It 
is  useless  to  ask  for  contributions  out  there,  because  the  people  have  not 
been  trained  to  give." 

The  time  to  begin  effective  training  in  Christian  giving  is  in  the  early 
years.  "It  is  hard  to  teach  an  old  dog  new  tricks."  For  this  reason 
education  in  giving  should  be  made  a  part  of  the  work  of  the  Sunday 
school.  Systematic  giving  should  be  encouraged,  and  each  pupil  should 
be  provided  with  his  own  set  of  envelopes,  that  he  may  acquire  the  habit 
of  making  benevolent  offerings.  In  1911,  Trinity  Episcopal  Church 
Sunday  school  in  Boston  gave  $25  to  the  Floating  Hospital,  $5  to  needy 
children  in  Kentucky,  $161  to  the  Mother's  Rest  work  of  the  parish, 
$292  to  general  missions,  and  other  sums  making  $650  in  all.  A  Bible 
class  in  the  same  school  contributed  an  additional  $100  to  missions,  and 
another  class  $31  toward  a  scholarship  in  Simmons  College. 

Older  Christians  should  be  taught  not  to  think  of  their  contributions 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  22  61 

to  the  church  as  "  gifts."  One  does  not  speak  of  "  giving  "  to  the  grocer 
or  the  coal  man  in  return  for  suppUes  furnished.  It  is  simply  paying 
one's  debts.  What  we  call  giving  to  the  church  is  really  the  paying  of 
a  just  debt.  The  moral  and  spiritual  benefits  which  a  church  bestows 
upon  the  individual  and  the  community  are  as  truly  benefits  as  those 
derived  from  the  club,  the  concert  course,  or  the  school.  From  it  we 
receive  the  Bible  and  all  that  it  means  to  us,  Christianity  with  its  priceless 
treasures,  the  Sabbath  with  its  privileges  and  pleasures,  religious  liberty 
with  its  larger  opportunities,  and  all  that  is  contained  in  the  higher  meanings 
of  brotherhood,  womanhood,  and  childhood.  Christianity  is  giving  us 
a  new  civilization,  a  regenerated  social  order,  and  a  hope  that  reaches 
out  into  eternity.  To  help  carry  on  this  work  by  financial  assistance 
does  not  really  rise  to  the  plane  of  giving;  it  rests  on  the  lower  plane  of 
simple  honesty  in  paying  what  we  owe. 

{2)  How  is  a  liberal  endowment  likely  to  affect  a  church? 

Great  wealth  acquired  by  gift  or  by  investments  in  real  estate  may  enable 
a  church  to  carry  on  a  variety  of  philanthropic  enterprises,  and  thus 
accomplish  much  good.  But  the  effect  on  the  membership  is  almost 
invariably  bad.  An  endowment  that  provides  for  a  large  part  of  the 
current  expenses  always  tends  to  dry  up  the  streams  of  individual  giving. 
The  spirit  of  sacrifice  dies,  and  formalism  and  leanness  of  soul  displaces 
spirituality.  Compare,  for  example,  the  vitality  of  the  unestablished 
churches  in  this  country  with  the  deadness  of  established  European 
churches  whose  expenses  are  paid  by  the  state.  It  has  always  been  ob- 
served that  the  churches  that  are  the  most  liberal  givers  are  distinguished 
by  the  highest  and  most  vigorous  type  of  spiritual  life,  and  vice  versa. 

(3)  Does  the  tithing  system  press  equally  on  the  rich  and  the  poor? 

Giving  one-tenth  of  one's  income  is  really  an  income  tax,  even  if  self- 
imposed.  Every  government  that  raises  revenue  by  an  income  tax,  and 
that  has  the  slightest  regard  for  social  justice,  attempts  so  to  adjust  the 
tax  that  it  will  not  become  oppresive  to  the  poor.  Incomes  below  a  certain 
figure  are  exempt.  Above  that  figure  the  percentage  of  tax  increases 
with  the  size  of  the  income.  For  three  families  of  five  persons  in  each 
with  incomes  respectively  of  $500,  $5,000,  and  $50,000  to  give  away  one- 
tenth  leaves  in  each  case  $450,  $4,500,  and  $45,000.  The  first  remainder 
sinks  the  family  below  the  poverty  line.  The  second  leaves  it  in  comfort. 
The  third  in  affluence.  "  If  any  average  wage  earner  in  the  churches 
has  actually  given  a  tenth  of  his  income,  he  deserves  profound  respect. 
It  is  heroic  giving  for  him.  And  if  we  have  allowed  the  impression  to 
prevail  that  the  giving  of  one-tenth  by  all  was  equal  giving  for  all,  we 
have  unwittingly  inflicted  a  grievous  injustice  on  the  poorer  church  mem- 
bers."— Rauschenbush :  Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis,  p.  293. 


62  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

Part  II.    NEW  MOVEMENTS  AND  METHODS 
WITHIN  THE  CHURCH. 

Lesson  23.    THE  BOY  PROBLEM. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  create  a  deeper  interest  in  modern  ways  of 
helping  boys  to  grow  up  into  Christian  life  and  service. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

Teachers  will  notice  that  this  lesson  discusses  only  so  much  of  the  boy 
problem  as  brings  it  into  relation  with  the  modem  church,  that  is,  the 
religious  aspect  of  the  question.  Yet  in  order  to  get  an  intelligent  idea 
of  what  the  boy  problem  really  means,  and  to  estimate  fairly  the  compara- 
tive value  of  the  schemes  devised  for  its  solution,  it  is  necessary  to  enter 
into  the  world  in  which  the  boy  lives,  and  to  know  the  characteristics  of 
the  successive  stages  in  his  development.  Thanks  to  the  patient  in- 
vestigations of  psychologists  during  the  past  half  century  these  are  now 
quite  fully  revealed.  Without  this  knowledge  we  are  simply  groping  in 
the  dark,  as  is  a  physician  who  attempts  to  prescribe  remedies  for  a  disease 
of  whose  origin  and  nature  he  is  ignorant.  For  this  reason  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  pupil's  lesson  is  devoted  to  a  statement  of  some  of  the 
salient  features  of  the  boy's  inner  life  during  the  period  of  adolescence. 
Dr.  Forbush's  book,  The  Boy  Problem,  latest  edition,  gives  an  abundance 
of  material  bearing  directly  on  this  lesson. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  The  next  lesson  takes  up  a  study  of  Modern  Church 
Brotherhoods,  composed  of  adults  rather  than  boys  and  youths,  and 
organized  for  the  purpose  of  developing  in  men  a  deeper  interest  in  the 
work  of  the  church. 

Assign  to  some  member  of  the  class  the  preparation  of  a  brief  sketch 
of  the  denominational  brotherhood  to  which  the  local  brotherhood  in  your 
church  belongs.  Nearly  all  the  leading  denominations  have  now  their 
distinctive  brotherhoods. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  (1)  "In  the  Primary  and  Juvenile  grades 
(of  the  Sunday  school)  the  boys  and  girls  are  about  equal  in  number.  In 
the  Intermediate  grades  there  are  usually  two  girls  to  one  boy.  In  the 
Senior  department  there  are  on  the  average  three  girls  to  one  boy.  Seventy- 
five  out  of  every  one  hundred  boys  leave  the  Sunday  school  and  church." 

(2-4)  Answered  in  the  Notes  on  the  Lesson. 

(5)  "  The  recapitulation  theory  is  not  exact;  it  does  not  even  approach 
exactness.  The  environment  by  which  a  twentieth-century  boy_  grows 
up  to  manhood  is  very  different  from  that  which  has  changed  with  the 
changing  stages  of  the  race's  history,  and  consequently  modifies  the  recapit- 


776 

16.4 

526 

16.5 

51 

15.7 

75 

16.3 

272 

16.4 

84 

15.4 

1,784 

16.4 

The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  23  -  63 

ulation  very  greatly.  Nevertheless,  if  we  want  to  understand  children, 
we  shall  find  one  entrance  into  the  realm  in  which  they  live  if  we  follow 
as  guides  the  brave,  the  chieftain,  the  hunter,  the  patriarch,  the  knight, 
the  feudal  lord." 

(7)  In  confirmation  of  the  statement  that  middle  adolescence  is  a  critical 
age  for  boys,  the  following  statistics  from  Dr.  Coe's  book  on  The  Spiritual 
Life  showing  the  ages  at  which  1784  Christian  men  became  conscious  of 
a  decisive  religious  awakening  will  be  interesting: 

Examined   Average  age 
Graduates  of  Drew  Seminary, 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  officers, 
Starbuck's  conversion  cases, 
Starbuck's  cases  of  spontaneous  awakening, 
Members  of  Rock  River  Conference, 
My  own  cases  of  decisive  awakening, 
Total, 

This  table  shows  that  at  the  age  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  boys  are  keenly 
alive  to  religious  impressions,  and  that  a  personal  life  choice  is  made  at 
that  age  more  easily  and  frequently  than  at  any  other. 

(5)  In  addition  to  the  reasons  mentioned  in  the  Notes,  the  following 
have  also  been  assigned: 

"  Girls  are  given  more  attention  than  boys.  Boys  are  noisy  and  some- 
times adults  say,  '  Better  have  a  few  less  boys,  and  have  an  orderly  school.' 
Then  it  is  said  that  girls  like  to  dress  up  and  boys  do  not.  It  is  said  that 
girls  take  after  their  mothers,  boys  follow  their  fathers'  example,  and 
fathers,  as  a  rule,  do  not  attend  Sunday  school. 

"It  is  also  said  that  the  teaching  is  often  effeminate.  The  difficulty 
has  been  explained  physiologically.  It  is  said,  for  example,  girls  naturally 
sit  still,  boys  can't  and  won't.  Some  argue  from  a  psychological  pomt 
of  view.  The  boys  leave  school  at  the  bashful  age.  Boys  doubt.  Boys 
are  creative,  girls  are  receptive;  boys  object  to  being  led;  girls  like  to  be. 

"  Nagging  and  scolding  do  more  damage  than  good.  Much  may  be 
accomplished  by  magnifying  his  good  points,  and  every  boy  has  some. 
The  better  nature  of  the  boy  may  be  reached  by  setting  him  to  work  for 
others.     *  Helpfulness  is  regarded  by  boys  as  a  manly  trait.'  " 

{9-10)  See  the  Notes. 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.  Why  have  the  Junior  societies 
in  the  Christian  Endeavor,  the  Epworth  League,  the  Baptist  Young 
People's  Union  and  similar  organizations  failed  to  solve  the  boy  problem? 

"  If  interest  is  the  key  to  influence,  what  boys  like  to  do  is  a  criterion 
as  to  the  sort  of  things  which  it  is  wise  to  do  with  them.  Three  thmgs 
were  definitely  discovered  regarding  these  societies  [those  which  boys 
spontaneously  organize,  as  contrasted  with  those  which  adults  organize 
for  them] :  Physical  activity,  in  the  form  of  play,  construction,  wandenng 
and  athletics,  was  the  supreme  interest,  eighty-five  and  one-half  per  cent 
of  the  societies  having  this  as  its  characteristic;  leagues  for  religious^ ex- 
pression were  almost  entirely  absent;  boys  and  girls  almost  never  organized 
together. 


64  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

"  We  see  at  once  that  these  Junior  (Christian  Endeavor)  societies 
ignore  these  three  facts,  for  they  are  mostly  organizations  for  sitting  still, 
they  aim  directly  at  verbal  religious  expression,  and  they  include  boys 
and  girls  together.  If  we  combine  with  verbal  religious  expression  the 
presence  of  the  other  sex,  we  make  a  demand  which  is  a  sore  tax  on  sim- 
plicity and  sincerity. 

"  Religion  in  a  child  may  be  real,  but  it  is  only  a  promise.  It  is  not 
yet  time  to  talk  about  it  or  display  it  in  any  vocal  way.  '  Oh,  that  I 
might  do  something  for  God;'  not,  '  Oh,  to  say  something!'  is  his  cry. 

"  With  boys  especially  this  is  a  time  of  reserves;  the  distance  between 
apprehension  and  expression  is  never  so  long  as  now;  it  is  more  important 
to  brood  than  to  utter,  and  public  prayer  or  testimony  or  opinion  is,  in 
this  imitative  age,  sure  to  be  parrot-like  and  unnatural.  It  is  a  period 
when  a  boy  tries  to  be  honest  with  himself.  The  insistence  upon  an 
indenturing  for  life  by  the  ironclad  pledge  and  the  easy  tolerance  of  its 
infraction  does  this  quality  of  his  nature  a  serious  wrong.  '  Nothing 
tends  more  to  give  to  children  a  sense  of  unreality,'  says  Sir  Joshua  Fitch, 
'  than  the  habit  of  exacting  from  them  professions  of  faith  which  do  not 
honestly  correspond  to  their  present  stage  of  religious  experience.'  When 
a  boy  wants  to  talk  in  meeting  at  this  age,  there  is  generally  something 
the  matter  with  him.  I  have  often  observed  that  it  is  not  the  best  or 
most  thoughtful  boys  who  do  the  praying  and  talking  in  these  meetings. 
It  is  rather  those  of  quick  but  shallow  natures  who  ought  to  be  repressed 
rather  than  encouraged,  and  who  are  learning  a  light  and  easy  manner 
of  religious  expression  which  may  later  easily  become  weakly  fluent  and 
more  or  less  consciously  hvpocritical." — Forbush:  The  Boy  Problem,  pp. 
90-92. 


Lesson  24.     MODERN  CHURCH  BROTHERHOODS. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  show  the  origin,  nature  and  work  of  modern 
church  Brotherhoods;  and  to  awaken  a  greater  interest  in  men's  work 
for  men. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

The  best  aid  In  the  preparation  of  this  lesson  is  Patterson's  book  on 
Modern  Church  Brotherhoods.  If  that  is  not  available,  the  pastor  may 
have  some  of  the  recent  periodical  literature  published  in  connection  with 
the  movement.  He  will  be  able  to  give  the  address  of  the  headquarters 
of  the  denominational  Brotherhood  from  which  the  latest  information 
may  be  obtained  as  to  growth  and  accomplishments.  If  there  is  a  brother- 
hood in  your  church,  the  officers  should  be  able  to  give  much  interesting 
information  respecting  its  work.  Its  president  might  be  invited  to  give 
the  class  a  ten  minutes'  talk  on  the  subject. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 
The  Assignments.     A  natural  sequence  to  the  subject  treated  m  this 
lesson  is  "  The  Men's  Campaign  for  Men."     This  will  be  considered  next 
Sunday. 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  21^.  65 

Appoint  some  member  of  the  class  to  prepare  a  brief  sketch  of  the. 
"  Men  and  Rehgion  Forward  Movement."  Refer  the  one  who  prepares 
the  sketch  to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  headquarters,  in  New  York  City,  for  Hterature. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {1)  Unquestionably  one  of  the  contrib- 
uting causes  to  the  recent  emphasis  on  the  need  of  recalling  the  men  to 
active  service  for  the  kingdom  of  God  has  been  the  growing  feminization 
of  the  churches.  Whatever  the  causes  for  this  unfortunate  decrease  in 
male  members  and  in  their  attendance  on  the  public  services,  no  remedy 
was  suggested  until  the  problem  was  forced  by  consecrated  Christian 
men  who  had  gained  a  clearer  vision  of  what  the  Gospel  message  means  to 
this  age  and  who  saw  that  the  men  themselves  were  the  chief  losers  through 
their  lack  of  interest  in  a  work  the  magnitude  of  which  they  had  failed  to 
understand. 

(5)  Associations  of  men  for  religious  purposes  have  been  formed  through- 
out all  the  Christian  centuries.  In  a  sense  the  monasteries  of  the  Middle 
Ages  were  brotherhoods,  but  while  in  the  world  they  were  apart  from  the 
daily  life  of  the  world.  Associations  of  laymen,  actively  engaged  in  secular 
business,  for  religious  or  charitable  work  seems,  however,  to  be  a  com- 
paratively recent  development.  The  first  of  these  was  the  Society  of 
St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  and  which  has  now  a  council  in  most  of  the  well- 
organized  Roman  Catholic  parishes  throughout  the  world.  It  was  started 
in  Paris  in  1883  by  Frederic  Ozanam,  one  of  the  professors  in  the  Sorbonne 
and  also  editor  of  a  Parisian  newspaper.  He  gathered  around  him  nine 
young  men,  students  in  various  universities,  who,  aroused  by  the  taunts 
of  unbelievers,  undertook  to  prove  the  practical  character  of  Christianity 
by  applying  themselves,  not  to  discussions,  but  to  good  works.  They 
started  the  first  council  of  the  Society  of  St.  Viftcent  de  Paul.  At  each 
weekly  meeting  the  council  assigns  to  each  of  its  members  some  specific 
case  of  poverty,  destitution,  crime,  or  other  need.  Over  that  case  he  is 
made  guardian,  with  authority  to  do  whatever  the  case  requires,  in  silence, 
without  ostentation,  and  without  specific  report.  In  Boston  several 
large  asylums  for  infants  and  children  are  cared  for  by  branches  of  these 
men's    societies. 

(7)  "  The  men's  movement  in  Great  Britain  has  passed  out  of  the  realm 
of  experiment  into  a  settled  policy  of  the  churches.  For  many  years 
now  the  Pleasant  Sunday  Afternoon  (P.  S.  A.)  meetings  for  men  have  been 
a  feature  of  masculine  activity  in  Britain.  The  gatherings  have  been 
made  so  interesting,  so  vital  and  profitable,  that  men  have  attended  in 
very  large  numbers.  For  many  years  the  name  was  simply  '  The  P.  S. 
A.,'  but  recently  the  magic  word  '  Brotherhood  '  has  been  added.  The 
meetings  are  so  utterly  unlike  the  ordinary  English  church  service,  that 
their  atmosphere  thrills  one  with  a  new  "sense  of  reality  and  friendly 
fellowship. 


66  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

"  Beyond  this  new  power  of  friendship  which  has  been  developed  is 
the  new  sense  of  power  to  affect  the  pubUc  weal,  which  these  men  feel 
that  they  possess,  when  linked  together.  Through  the  education  which 
has  gone  on  for  years  in  these  men's  meetings,  the  church  men  of  England 
have  come  to  have  a  public  and  national  conscience.  Out  of  the  ranks 
of  these  men  have  come  some  of  the  brainiest  and  bravest  leaders  in  Eng- 
lish political  life  to-day.  These  progressive  Christian  statesmen  feel 
that  the  real  constituency  to  which  they  are  chiefly  answerable  is  the 
great  host  of  laymen  banded  together  in  the  churches,  for  it  must  be 
remembered  that  these  brotherhoods  exist  not  only  in  the  great  centers, 
but  all  over  the  land.  Our  English  cousins  have  solved  much  more  fully 
than  we  the  problem  of  church  attendance  and  activity  within  the  church. 
What  they  are  engaged  in  now  is  the  task  of  making  themselves  felt  in 
the  life  of  the  nation.  Because  they  are  strong  as  churches  they  are  more 
ready  than  we  are  to  apply  themselves  to  the  needs  of  the  nation." — 
Condensed  from  Frank  Dyer  in  The  Brotherhood,  October  1908,  pp.  11,  12. 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.  How  can  church  brotherhoods 
bring  about  a  better  tmderstanding  between  the  churches  and  labor 
associations? 

"  Labor  has  certain  grievances  against  the  church,  differing  in  different 
localities.  Some  of  them  are  unreasonable;  others  are  just.  The  brother- 
hood in  each  communit}^  should  ascertain  what  they  are  and  seek  to  adjust 
misunderstandings.  For  instance,  it  is  maintained  by  organized  labor 
that  the  church  uniformly  fails  to  inquire  as  to  the  principles  involved 
during  times  of  strikes  and  other  industrial  disturbances,  and  that  the 
influence  of  the  church,  in  consequence,  is  rarely  exerted.  Here  is  an 
opportunity  for  the  brotherhood.  There  are  labor  disputes  in  which 
fimdamental  ethical  principles  are  involved — such  as  the  living  wage,  the 
the  violation  of  an  agreement,  the  right  of  collective  bargaining,  that  of 
protection  from  dangerous  machinery,  etc.,  and  the  refusal  to  arbitrate. 
In  such  cases  the  brotherhood  should  have  no  hesitancy  in  coming  out 
openly  in  support  of  the  side  that  is  wTonged.  Moreover,  the  brother- 
hood which  would  serve  *the  best  interests  both  of  employer  and  the  work- 
man should  always  advocate  and  work  for  the  settlement  of  all  disputes 
by  means  of  conciliation  and  arbitration. 

"  In  many  of  the  trades  assemblies,  especially  in  the  larger  comrnunities, 
there  is  an  exchange  of  delegates  with  the  ministerial  association,  the 
brotherhood  federation,  or  both.  The  result  has  been  an  interchange  of 
viewpoint  that  has  made  for  lasting  good.  ... 

"It  is  possible  in  most  places  for  organized  labor  and  the  organized 
men  of  the  churches  to  get  together  and  jointly  consider  the  things  that 
are  needed  for  the  welfare  of  the  community.  This  done,  it  is  not  difficult 
to  formulate  a  plan  for  cooperative  activity. 

"  In  one  community  the  brotherhood  arrayed  itself  aggressively  against 
Sunday  baseball  and  general  Sabbath  desecration.  The  trades  assembly 
was  invited  to  meet  with  the  brotherhood  and  consider  the  matter,  with 
the  result  that  the  two  organizations  united  in  a  movement  for  Sunday 
observance  which  speedily  brought  to  an  end  the  more  flagrant  violations 
of  the  law."— Patterson:  Modern  Church  Brotherhoods,  pp.  222-224. 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  25  67 

Lesson  25.    THE  MEN'S  CAMPAIGN  FOR  MEN. 
Object  of  the  Lesson.     To  call  attention  to  the  widespread  efforts 
now  being  made  to  get  men  enlisted  in  church  work,  and  to  create  an 
interest  in  the  methods  employed. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

In  addition  to  the  Lesson  Notes  in  the  pupils'  books  and  the  additional 
material  below,  the  teacher  will  get  much  valuable  information  from  the 
article,  "  On  the  March  with  the  New  Crusaders,"  in  Everybody* s  Maga- 
zine for  May,  1912.  The  article  in  The  Outlook  for  April  27,  1912,  presents 
a  well-written  summary  of  the  results  of  the  movement  so  far  as  they  were 
seen  toward  the  close  of  the  active  campaign.  Both  of  these  articles 
should  be  easily  accessible. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  The  peril  from  the  rapid  congestion  of  great  popu- 
lations in  the  cities,  the  variety  of  nationalities  and  races  found  in  them, 
the  extremes  of  poverty  and  wealth  fostered  by  them,  the  immorality 
and  crime  bred  by  them,  the  social,  industrial,  unsanitary  conditions 
allowed  to  exist  in  them,  constitute  a  problem  whose  vastness  and  com- 
plexity taxes  the  utmost  wisdom  of  reformers  and  philanthropists  to 
suggest  a  remedy.  Our  next  lesson  will  attempt  to  show  "  What  a  City 
Problem  Is." 

Request  some  member  of  the  class  to  prepare  a  brief  statement  of 
reasons  why  factories  locate  in  cities  rather  than  the  country. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  (5)  The  Laymen's  Missionary  Move- 
ment has  been  a  great  inspiration  to  the  missionaries  on  the  foreign  fields. 
One  of  them  speaks  of  it  in  these  terms:  "  If  one  can  imagine  a  United 
States  army  thirty  years  ago  engaged  in  the  subjugation  of  Central  Africa 
and  after  a  long-continued  and  discouraging  conflict  with  tribes  in  the 
interior,  surrounded  by  the  enemy  in  overwhelming  numbers  and  fighting 
their  way  foot  by  foot  to  victory;  if  one  can  imagine  this  army  one  day 
suddenly  hearing  of  the  enlistment  of  an  adequate  relief  force  in  the  home 
land  and  the  preparation  of  long-needed  supplies,  one  can  understand 
something  of  the  feeling  of  the  missionaries  on  the  field,  when  they  read 
of  the  inauguration  and  initial  success  of  the  Laymen's  Movement.  It 
seemed  that  at  length  the  Christian  church  had  aroused  itself  for  the 
accompHshment  of  its  divinely  appointed  but  unfinished  task.  Dis- 
couragenient  gave  way  to  hope  and  this  hope  has  changed  gradually  into 
the  conviction  of  ultimate  victory." 

{/i)  "  The  Men  and  Religion  Forward  Movement  is  the  biggest  and 
boldest  evangelistic  movement  ever  planned  in  this  country.  We  have 
watched  evangelism  outgrow  the  local  church  and  grapple  with  whole 
cities.  This  movement  plans  to  cover  our  whole  vast  country.  Our 
industrial  and  commercial  organization  has  ceased  to  be  local  and  is  be- 


68  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

coming  national  in  its  scope.  Our  religious  organization  is  keeping  pace. 
Men  say  the  church  is  dying.  This  movement  is  a  reply.  The  energy 
of  religion  is  inexhaustible.  Like  fire,  it  only  needs  freedom  and  the 
troublmg  stormwind  of  necessity  to  fan  a  few  live  coals  into  flaming  splendor. 
To  tackle  the  impossible  with  a  cheer  is  not  a  symptom  of  death.  This 
movement  is  a  front  attack  on  that  part  of  the  enemy's  lines  which  was 
supposed  to  be  most  impregnable  —  the  men.  Attack  is  the  best  kind 
of  defense." — Walter  Rauschenbusch. 

(-5)  "  Dr.  Washington  Gladden  declared  the  Men  and  Religion  Move- 
ment to  have  been  a  trumpet  call  to  the  derelict  type  of  religion  to  arise 
and  shake  itself  from  the  dust  and  move  forward  to  the  battle  line.  He 
adds  that  the  message  which  the  Christian  men  on  the  team  of  experts 
brought  to  Columbus  (Ohio)  was  the  most  inspiring  message  to  which  he 
has  ever  listened;  and  concludes:  '  I  never  expected  to  live  long  enough  to 
see  the  evangelical  churches  of  America  harnessed  to  a  project  so  rational 
and  adequate  as  this  one,  nor  to  hear  on  a  platform  where  Presbyterians, 
Alethodists,  Baptists,  Congregationalists,  and  Lutherans  were  standing 
together,  the  kind  of  Gospel  preaching  to  which  I  have  listened  all  this 
week.'  " — The  Independent,  December  21,  1911,  p.  1366. 

(7)  "  If  you  live  in  one  of  the  seventy-six  campaign  centers,  you  know 
w^hat  happened  when  a  '  team  '  of  these  Men  and  Religion  workers  came 
into  your  town,  understanding  conditions  there  better  than  you  or  probably 
any  other  resident.  For  during  the  previous  three  months,  a  small  army 
of  skilful  men  had  been  making  a  '  survey  '  of  your  city  under  the  super- 
vision of  your  local  committee  of  one  hundred ;  and  that  survey  had  been 
studied,  analyzed,  worked  over,  by  the  team  before  they  arrived.  Also 
it  had  been  carefully  compared  with  similar  sur\^eys  of  half  a  dozen  other 
cities  similar  to  yours.  Now  that  survey,  when  completed,  is  to  Men 
and  Religion  workers  what  a  set  of  blueprints  is  to  a  corps  of  railway 
engineers  who  start  out  to  construct  a  line,  with  bridges,  grades,  yards, 
stations,  in  a  new  territory.  It  is  a  set  of  working  plans  whereby  the 
visiting  team  of  specialists  can  carry  on  their  campaign  effectively,  with 
businesslike  intelligence.  .  .  . 

"  It  is  by  using  the  charts  that  the  rnen  of  the  churches  must  do  their 
constructive  work  in  any  community,  if  they  are  to  do  it  intelligently 
and  effectively." — Everybody's  Magazine,  May  1912,  pp.  640-643. 

{9)  As  an  illustration  of  what  the  Men  and  Religion  Movement  accom- 
plished, the  following  statement  concerning  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  is  interest- 
ing. "  Inter-church  council  formed,  every  church  brotherhood  naming 
two  representatives  to  carry  on  the  five  lines  of  work  in  the  program, 
treating  the  city  as  a  whole.  Men  volunteering  for  social  service,  com- 
munity extension,  bovs'  work  and  the  other  lines  laid  down.  Religious 
life  of  every  church  has  been  quickened,  and  men  are  much  more  willing 
to  attend  church  services  than  ever  before.  Bible  study  classes  organized, 
and  a  training  institute  for  teachers  and  workers  in  all  of  the  Sunday 
schools  of  the  city  already  under  way,  with  a  faculty  of  fourteen  instructors 
composed  of  the  best  authorities  on  different  phases  of  Bible  study.  Co- 
operating with  this  institute,  training  class  for  boys'  workers.  Delegate 
sent  from  Des  Moines  to  Chicago  to  study  the  municipal  lodging  house, 
and  upon  his  report  the  City  Council  at  once  appropriated  $2,500  for 
the  establishment  of  a  municipal  lodging  house  and  employment  bureau 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  25  69 

in  this  city.  Practical  work  in  evangelism,  community  extension  and 
missions,  already  under  way.  So  far  from  dying  out,  the  interest  in  the 
movement  is  increasing  every  day.  It  is  declared  to  be  the  most  practical 
agency  for  furthering  religious  activities  that  has  ever  been  introduced 
in  the  State." — The  Independent,  December  21,  1911,  p.  136G. 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.  Are  church  methods  to-day 
adapted  to  the  kind  of  work  that  needs  to  be  done  by  churches? 

"  The  average  church  is  to-day  using  methods  as  antiquated  in  its  field 
as  the  horse  car  is  in  the  field  of  transportation.  The  average  minister 
is  overwhelmed  with  routine  duties.  In  this  he  somev/hat  resembles 
the  family  physician,  but  with  a  great  difference.  The  general  practioner 
of  medicine,  in  time  of  need,  calls  upon  specialists — surgeons,  pathologists, 
bacteriologists,  *  eye  men,'  and  '  blood  men,'  who  are  authorities  in  their 
distinct  fields. 

"  But  the  average  minister  simply  struggles  along  the  same  old  lines, 
meanwhile  worrying  day  and  night  because  the  men  and  boys  show  so 
little  interest,  and  because,  while  the  church  is  accomplishing  a  great 
deal  of  good  in  the  world,  yet  he  feels  that  it  is  capable  of  accomplishing  a 
thousandfold  more;  because  he  believes  it  would  do  so  if  he  only  knew 
how  to  inspire  the  great  body  of  passive  laymen,  and  teach  them  to  harness 
their  vast  latent  energy  to  the  task  of  making  human  life  happier,  better, 
more  hopeful. 

"  It  is  right  here  that  the  Men  and  Religion  Movement  steps  in.  Those 
at  the  head  of  it — like  chemists,  engineers,  physicians,  in  their  fields — 
have  worked  and  studied  year  after  year,  and  have  developed  methods 
which  are  suited  to  religious  effort  in  the  second  decade  of  the  twentieth 
century.  They  are  not  going  around  with  brass  bands  and  banners  to 
advertise  themselves,  although  local  committees  of  one  hundred,  fre- 
quently provide  such  additions  to  a  local  campaign.  The  thirty  specialists 
who  are  leaders  of  the  movement  have  serious,  lasting,  important  work 
to  do;  and  they  are  doing  it  quietly,  steadily,  earnestly — like  men." — 
Everybody s  Magazine,  May  1912,  p.  649. 

"  The  general  plan  of  the  Men  and  Religion  Forward  Movement  may 
be  described  as  an  effort  to  arouse  to  activity  laymen  in  all  local  churches 
all  over  the  country.  It  has  no  new  religion  to  offer,  no  new  religious 
fad  to  suggest.  All  that  is  new  in  the  Movement  may  be  found  in  the 
methods  by  which  it  presents  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  And  new  methods 
are  necessary,  for  the  simple  reason  that  methods  in  satisfactory  use 
years  ago  are  not  satisfactory  to-day.  Our  whole  civilization  has  been 
revolutionized.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  people  live  together  in  great 
cities  where  they  do  not  know  each  other,  where  it  is  almost  impossible 
for  a  single  church,  or  any  number  of  churches,  to  reach  them  under  old 
methods  because  of  the  density  of  the  population.  In  the  vast  majority 
of  cases  a  man  is  greatly  strengthened  through  the  influence  of  some  one 
church.  The  Men  and  Religion  Forward  Movement  took  the  church  to 
the  man,  wherever  he  lived." — The  Independent, 


70  ^^^  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

Lesson  26.    WHAT  THE  CITY  PROBLEM  IS. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  show  the  nature  of  the  city  problem,  and  how 
Christian  churches  must  meet  it. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

The  rapid  and  immense  growth  of  modem  cities,  and  the  evils  which 
have  attended  it,  especially  in  our  own  country,  have  in  recent  years 
attracted  wide  attention  and  careful  study  from  every  point  of  view. 
The  result  is  an  exceedingly  valuable  mass  of  literature  bearing  on  the 
subject  of  this  lesson.  Teachers  will  receive  much  help  from  Dr.  Strong's 
books.  The  Twentieth  Century  City,  and  the  Challenge  of  the  City.  Grose's 
book,  Aliens  or  Americans,  shows  how  recent  immigration  has  vastly 
increased  the  magnitude  of  the  city  problem.  Steffens'  book,  The  Shame 
of  the  City,  a  terrible  exposure  of  municipal  corruption,  was  originally 
published  in  McClure's  magazine.  This  lesson  should  be  prepared  with 
a  view  (1)  to  giving  an  intelligent  view  of  the  nature,  magnitude,  and 
complexity  of  the  city  problem,  and  (2)  to  showing  the  measure  of  the 
church's  responsibility  in  its  solution. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  The  next  lesson  on  "  The  Social  Work  of  the  City 
Church  "  will  deal  more  fully  with  a  side  of  the  church's  work  that  has 
been  touched  very  lightly  in  the  present  lesson. 

If  the  church  to  which  the  class  belongs  is  situated  in  a  city,  ask  some 
member  of  the  class  to  give  an  account  of  the  work  of  a  neighboring  church 
that  has  given  itself  in  some  measure  to  social  work. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  (2)  "  To  produce  our  agricultural  staples 
in  1870,  one  man  was  employed  to  every  seventeen  acres  cultivated;  in 
1890  there  was  only  one  to  every  twenty-six  acres.  If  the  same  methods 
had  been  employed  in  1890  as  in  1870  there  would  have  been  required 
4,430,000  more  farm  laborers  than  actually  found  employment  on  .the 
farm.  This  means  that  the  application  of  machinery  to  agriculture 
during  those  twenty  years  forced  4,430,000  men  (in  addition  to  their  fami- 
lies) to  live  in  the  city  who  would  otherwise  have  lived  on  the  farm.  ... 
It  means  that  onlv  a'hmited  number  of  persons  can  get  a  living  by  agri- 
culture, and  that  when  the  supply  of  food  has  reached  the  limit  of  demand, 
agriculture  can  increase  only  as  population  increases. 

"  To  increase  the  food  supply  beyond  this  limit  serves  only  to  decrease 
the  farmers'  income.  ...  .  . 

"  Even  the  increase  in  population  will  not  necessarily  require  any  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  farmers,  for  many  years  to  come,  because  improved 
methods  may  increase  the  product  as  rapidly  as  increasing  demand  requires, 
until  we  have  reached  a  much  higher  standard  of  agriculture.  ... 

"  After  taking  all  the  facts  into  consideration,  we  are  forced  to  the 
conclusion  that  progress  in  agriculture  will  limit  it  to  an  ever  decreasing 
proportion  of  the  population,  which,  of  course,  means  that  an  ever  increas- 


The  Senior  Teacher— Lesson  26  71 

ing  proportion  wiU  Uve  in  cities. "-Strong:  Challenge  of  the  City,  pp.  22-24. 
(5)  "  An  honest  working  man  does  not  want  alms  but  justice.  He 
resents  tlS  idea  of  charity  in  the  modem  acceptatiori  of  the  terrn.  and 
^.T^^nHrof  society  the  right  to  provide  for  himself  and  his  family  by  the 
strength  of  hlown  ngSt  arm.%ut  he  realizes  keenly  that  any  slight 
turn  of  the  wheel  of  fortune  may  make  beggars  of  himself  andhis  loved 
onS-  that  allowing  for  the  ups  and  downs  that  naturally  come  into  every 
fatSy  hi  toryhT  cannot  by  his  best  efforts  provide  agamst  sickness  and 
o??aJe  Is  it  any  wonder  if  he  feels  that  there  is  stiU  something  radically 
wronl  with  the  social  order?  Untaught  to  think  or  reason  broadly-and 
few  of  us  would  reason  dispassionately  upon  an  empty  stomach— his 
r^^cdorm  are  stirred  bv  demagogues  who,  with  specious  appeals  to  what 
Fs  eaUy  the  best  in  the  man^^hfs  manhood  and  his  independence,  mcense 
him  against  the  existing  order  of  things  as  the  sole  cause  of  his  wrongs.  — 
Horton:  The  Burden  of  the  City,  pp.  35,  36. 

i6)  "  Civic  corruption  is  found  in  all  American  cities,  but  more  in  the 
larger  ones.  It  is  impossible  to  say  when  the  evU  began,  because  it  seems 
to  be  as  old  as  government,  since  it  is  found  m  European  and  Asiatic 
cities.  But  the  more  glaring  and  systematic  corruption  m  this  country 
is  of  comparatively  recent  date.  It  began  after  the  Ci^il  War  with  the 
rapid  growth  of  the  cities  and  rapid  increase  of  wealth.  The  withdrawal 
of  great  numbers  of  men  from  industry  for  mihtary  service  was  a  great 
stimulous  to  invention,  and  machinery  was  rapidly  apphed  to  manufactures 
and  agriculture.  This  stimulated  the  city  to  a  disproportionate  growth. 
Transcontinental  railways  opened  up  the  great  West  to  settlement,  immi- 
gration poured  in,  rapid  changes  stimulated  speculation,  and  the  general 
rush  for  wealth  began.  The  average  citizen  was  so  zealous  m  the  pursuit 
of  this  object  that  he  left  the  government  of  his  city  to  professional  pohti- 
cians.  The  result  was  inevitable— corruption  in  every  large  city,  m  every 
department  of  the  municipal  government,  to  as  large  an  /xtent  as  the 
bosses  and  administration  dared  go.  Thus  the  evil  fortified  itself  and 
became  well-nigh  invincible."— Strong:  Studies  in  the  Gospel  of  the  King- 
dom, No.  6,  p.  2. 

(7)  "  Boston  and  New  York  are  said  to  be  the  worst  congested  centers 
in  the  United  States.  Within  their  apparently  limited  area,  foreigners 
coming  to  this  country  sought  the  communities  where  lived  others  of 
their  own  nationality.  These  foreign  colonies  were  usually  m  the  already 
thickly  populated  portion  of  the  city.  Great  factories,  employing  largely 
women  and  children,  sprang  up  in  the  heart  of  the  congested  districts, 
where  this  sort  of  labor  was  cheap. 

"Under  ordinary  conditions  which  such  crowding  produces,  a  family 
of  six  or  eight  persons  Hving  in  a  miserably  small  apartment  of  two  or 
three  rooms  is  in  bad  enough  environment,  but  when  sickness  or  injury 
to  a  member  comes,  the  suffering  that  follows  is  beyond  words,  it  the 
head  of  the  family  is  stricken,  or  is  incapacitated  by  one  of  the  all-too- 
frequent  accidents,  the  burden  of  supplying  the  daily  bread  falls  upon 
the  mother,  and,  if  they  have  passed  babyhood,  upon  the  children,  ihe 
result  is  that  the  mother  wears  herself  out  in  a  year  or  so  trying  to  do  both 
her  own  work  and  fill  the  office  of  breadwinner,  while  the  children  grow 
up  poorly  nourished,  ignorant,  and,  too  often,  immoral.  —The  Standard, 
July  30,  1910. 


72  The  Bible  Sttidy  Union  Lessons 

(8)  "  The  city  is  the  church's  great  opportunity.  Next  to  our  evange- 
listic and  spiritual  work  in  our  own  churches  comes  our  duty  to  apply 
the  principles  of  our  religion  to  city  government,  and  so  help  to  extend 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth.  The  day  is  past  and  gone  when  Christian 
people  can  say,  '  Leave  the  world  to  the  devil  and  cultivate  your  own 
religious  life.'  It  is  said  of  St.  Margaret  *  that  she  became  increasingly 
useless  about  the  convent,  her  absorption  in  Christ's  love,  which  grew 
upon  her  daily,  rendering  her  more  and  more  incapable  of  attending  to 
external  duties.'  The  world  has  been  cursed  w4th  too  much  religion  of 
that  sort.  Our  Lord  went  about  doing  good,  and  this  is  the  only  orthodoxy 
that  matters.  Those  who  to-day  are  giving  time  and  thought  to  public 
work  in  the  city  council  and  in  the  national  parliament  are  discharging 
Christian  duties  and  doing  Christian  work  as  directly  as  those  who  preach 
in  the  pulpit  or  teach  in  the  Sunday  school."^ David  Walters. 

The  Questions  for  Class  Discussion.  Why  is  the  city  problem  more 
acute  in  this  country  than  in  Europe? 

"  Everywhere  in  Europe  the  city  is  governed  by  merchants,  manufac- 
turers, bankers,  and  professional  men.  Everywhere  the  city  does  many 
things  which  we  would  call  Socialism.  Germany,  Austria,  England,  and, 
to  a  growing  extent,  Italy,  Belgium,  and  France,  see  in  the  city  a  means 
for  promoting  business  and  commerce,  an  agency  for  convenience  and 
happiness.  To  an  increasing  extent  the  city  is  making  war  on  poverty 
and  disease.  This  idea  of  the  city  as  a  joint  stock  undertaking  for  doing 
things  by  us  left  in  private  hands  or  not  done  at  all  is  what  most  distin- 
guishes the  cities  of  Europe  from  our  own.  The  European  city  has  a 
community  sense.     It  enjoys  something  of  the  soverignty  of  the  nation. 

"  With  us  property  is  free  to  do  much  as  it  wills.  Private  business  is 
sovereign.  We  have  little  city  sense.  The  rights  of  the  community  have 
been  spHt  into  a  thousand  parts.  Councils,  legislatures,  and  courts 
reflect  the  will  of  private  property.  Billboard  owners,  builders,  tenements, 
sky-scrapers,  street  railways,  and  land  speculators  secure  freedom  from 
control  on  the  plea  that  regulation  is  an  interference  with  liberty  or  is 
the  taking  of  property  without  process  of  law.  We  have  not  yet  begun  to 
think  in  terms  of  city  sovereignty."— TAe  Outlook,  January  25,  1913,  p.  203. 


THE  SENIOR  TEACHER 

An  Aid  in  Teaching  the  Course  on 
THE  MODERN  CHURCH 


Lesson  27.    THE  SOCIAL  WORK  OF  THE  CITY  CHURCH. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  emphasize  the  responsibility  of  the  city 
church  to  help  solve  the  city  problem. 

PREPARING   THE  LESSON. 

Among  the  great  number  of  agencies  that  are  working  at  specific  details 
of  the  city  problem  the  Christian  church  must  by  right  assume  a  central 
and  commanding  place.  This  lesson  is  designed  to  show  that  the  church's 
interest  is  not  limited  to  strictly  moral  and  religious  reforms,  but  that  it 
extends  to  every  form  of  work  by  which  the  social  welfare  of  the  community 
is  enhanced.  The  literature  relating  to  this  subject  is  already  abundant 
and  is  rapidly  increasing.  Teachers  will  find  the  volume  on  The  Re- 
demption of  the  City  by  Rev.  Charles  H.  Sears,  General  Secretary  of  the 
New  York  City  Baptist  Mission  Society,  full  of  information  respecting 
the  conditions  which  the  city  churches  face,  and  of  suggestions  b}^  which 
the  work  of  the  churches  may  be  made  more  efficient.  A  very  helpful 
part  of  the  book  is  the  six  pages  of  Bibliography  at  the  end.  Plantz's 
The  Church  and  the  Social  Problem  is  an  able  discussion  of  the  more  im- 
portant aspects  of  the  subject. 

TEACHING   THE   LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  If  there  is  an  institutional  church  near  enough  to  be 
easily  reached,  appoint  some  member  of  the  class  to  visit  it,  and  to  give 
a  brief  account  of  its  work  and  the  results  attained. 

If  no  such  concrete  example  of  mission  work  is  within  reach,  ask  some 
one  to  discuss  in  a  three  or  four-minute  paper  the  question  whether  we 
have  a  right  to  expect  more  stability,  or  less,  in  the  converts  at  a  rescue 
mission  than  at  a  church. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {2)  "A  crisis  means  an  opportunity, 
and  the  present  social  crisis  is  the  church's  unprecedented,  unparalleled 
opportunity.  The  church  cannot  stand  athwart  the  path  of  progress  and 
prevent  the  outward  movement  of  the  mighty  social  forces  which  are 
sweeping  over  us.  Any  attempt  to  stop  these  forces  is  reckless  madness. 
The  church  may,  however,  direct  these  forces  into  such  fruitful  channels 
that  thev  mav  become  powerful  for  the  good  of  man  and  the  glory  of  God." 
—Dr.  Richard  Ely. 

73 


74  The  Bible  Study   Union  Lessons 

**  The  church  must  be  awake  to  the  importance  of  the  social  problem; 
for  the  church  alone  can  solve  it  as  it  alone  can  solve  all  the  deeper  problems 
of  society.  Economists  may  write,  sociologists  may  devise,  political 
philosophers  may  expound,  and  specialists  may  labor;  but  the  world  will 
only  be  saved  by  Christ;  and  the  great  problems  of  human  society  will 
only  be  solved  as  His  morals  and  ideals  are  applied  to  them.  Men  may 
not  wish  to  admit  this,  and  the  skeptical  sociologist  may  laugh  at  it,  but 
history  is  witness  to  its  truth.  The  Gospel  has  so  far  proved  inadequate 
for  an  age  of  industrial  conflict  and  revolution;  for  it  has  been  partially 
declared,  partially  applied,  and  given  a  narrow  interpretation;  but  when 
its  full  meaning  for  the  world  is  realized,  when  the  relation  of  its  great 
principles  and  profound  truths  to  daily  life  is  appreciated,  we  shall  see  that 
all  the  reforms  will  cc«ne  which  are  so  much  needed  in  the  social  life  of  the 
people." — Plantz:   The  Church  and  the  Social  Problem,  p.  244. 

(5)  *'  The  church  must  be  the  hand  of  the  compassionate  Christ.  Per- 
haps the  appeal  of  the  needy  child  is  strongest  and  can  be  answered  the 
most  readily.  While  the  mother  is  at  work  the  children  are  taken  into 
the  church  nursery;  there  is  no  kindergarten  in  the  neighborhood,  so  the 
church  is  opened;  no  place  for  the  children  to  play,  so  the  churchyard  or 
the  church  roof  is  turned  into  a  playground,  where,  under  leadership, 
children  are  taught,  through  directed  play,  the  fundamentals  back  of  all 
social  relationships  and  come  to  know  the  church  as  a  friend;  boys  and 
girls  who  need  helpful  occupation  and  stimulating  companionship  are 
taught  some  craft  or  art;  the  young  people,  who  have  no  place  for  social 
life  except  a  street  comer  or  dance  hall,  are  invited  to  the  church  parlors; 
the  young  men  and  young  women  need  physical  development,  so  a  gym- 
nasiimi  is  opened.  There  are  the  poor,  who  are  finding  life  a  hard  struggle; 
perhaps  the  church  may  ease  their  burden,  or  at  any  rate  help  them  to 
train  their  children  to  fight  these  conditions  more  successfully.  Many 
families  are  unprepared  for  emergencies — sickness,  death,  or  temporary 
unemployment;  the  church  may  be  able  to  give  the  needed  rehef  or  may 
point  the  way  to  other  organizations  that  are." — Sears:  The  Redemption 
of  the  City,  pp.  133,  134. 

(6)  "  The  number  of  churches  taking  up  some  such  form  of  work  is 
rapidly  increasing.  In  New  York  alone  there  are  said  to  be  one  hundred 
and  twelve  churches'^which  have  incorporated  some  institutional  features 
and  some  of  them  are  vast  organizations  of  social  and  rehgious  activity  for 
the  betterment  of  the  people.  The  value  of  these  methods  is  seen  from  the 
fact  that  it  is  stated  on  good  authority  that  the  increase  in  membership 
of  the  institutional  churches  in  our  larger  cities  is  six  times  as  great  as  in 
the  societies  which  have  not  taken  up  the  new  methods." — Plantz:  The 
Church  and  the  Social  Problem,  pp.  223,  224. 

'  (5)  "  No  organization  or  order  of  men  on  the  face  of  the  earth  must 
be  permitted  to  usurp  the  place  of  the  church  of  Christ  as  the  champion 
of  human  rights.  It  is  responsible  for  the  diffusion  of  just  opinions  and 
the  estabHshment  of  right  institutions.  It  should  be  the  care  of  allied 
Christianity  not  only  to  alleviate  present  conditions,  but  to  liberate  and 
direct  the  forces  which  shall  work  out  results  in  succeeding  generations. 
The  pride  that  despises  labor  must  go.  The  selfishness  which  seeks 
men  simply  to  use  them  must  die.  The  custom  which  puts  the  silken 
glove  upon  the  iron  hand  of  human  greed  must  be  abolished.  The  laws 
which  ennoble  riches  and  degrade  manhood  are  to  be  abrogated.     The 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  27  75 

wealth  which  belongs  to  all  should  be  held  for  all,  and  the  rights  which 
belong  to  each  should  be  withheld  from  none.  The  rivalry  which  begets 
hate  and  issues  in  death  must  be  supplanted.  The  avarice  which  buys  up 
virtue  for  gold  and  makes  merchandise  of  vice  must  be  foiled.  Entailed 
poverty  and  enforced  starvation  must  be  prevented  by  the  community 
which  now  barely  reheves  them.  For  each  soul  there  must  be  a  hving 
chance  in  this  world  and  a  reasonable  opportunity  to  secure  in  the  world 
to  come  '  life  everlasting.' 

"  Let  it  not  for  a  moment  be  thought  that  the  larger  ideals  of  the  church 
are  removing  us  from  the  simplicity  of  Christ.  Nay,  rather,  as  we  con- 
template them,  do  we  not  find  ourselves  in  spirit  with  him  in  his  ministry 
long  ago?  Do  we  not  see  him  touch  the  bread  for  a  multitude's  hunger  on 
Galilee's  shore?  Do  we  not  find  tears  in  our  own  eyes  as  we  see  him  weep 
over  the  city  that  knew  him  not?  Do  we  not  wonder  again  at  the  love  that 
drew  children  to  his  arms  and  shudder  at  the  flashes  of  indignation 
which  struck  the  mask  from  the  cruel  hearts  of  *  scribes  and  Pharisees, 
hypocrites,'  and  the  strokes  of  the  lash  which  drove  the  impiety  of  greed 
from  the  temple  of  God? 

"  The  larger  ideals  are  simply  the  ideals  of  Christ.  The  church  can 
have  no  higher  possible  aim  than  to  understand  him  and  to  be  like  him." — 
The  Socialized,  Church,  pp.  265-267. 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.  Why  must  the  churches  engage  in 
social  evangelization? 

"  Our 'duty  must  be  measured  not  only  by  the  gravity  of  the  crisis  but 
by  the  greatness  of  our  power.  A  few  years  before  the  Civil  War,  Alexander 
H.  Stephens  said  to  a  Northern  congressman  in  Washington:  '  As  long  as 
the  slavery  controversy  is  confined  to  that  old  cave  of  the  winds  [pointing 
to  the  Senate  Chamber],  nothing  will  come  of  it;  but  when  they  take  it 
up  over  there  [pointing  to  a  neighboring  church],  then  we  will  see  the  begin- 
ning of  the  end.'  And  Laveleye,  the  great  Belgian  economist,  writes: 
'  With  the  assistance  of  the  clergy  everything  in  matter  of  social  reform  is 
easy;  without  such  help,  or  in  spite  of  it,  all  is  difficult  and  at  times  im- 
possible.' And  Professor  Rauschenbusch  declares  that  there  is  probably 
no  social  wrong  of  our  times  strong  enough  to  resist  the  united  and  per- 
sistent attack  of  the  churches  of  this  nation.  If  this  be  true,  then  what 
less  than  the  judgment  scene  of  the  twenty-fifth  of  Matthew  can  depict 
the  guilt  of  the  church  that  should  fail  its  Lord  in  such  an  emergency  for 
the  human  race?  .  .  . 

"  Society  is  cursed  by  institutions,  customs,  and  conditions  whose  effect 
is  to  damn  individuals,  and  there  can  be  little  salvation,  individual  or 
social,  as  long  as  these  have  way  and  sway.  The  Book  says:  '  The  Son  of 
God  was  sent  to  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil,'  and  the  Son  himself 
adds,  '  As  the  Father  has  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you.'  .  .  . 

"So  long  as  the  social  order  continues  to  damn  individuals,  and  to  damn 
itself  in  spite  of  individuals,  it  is  futile  to  say  that  the  only  way  to  save 
society  is  to  save  individuals.  It  is  only  a  way  of  saying.  Let  social  evils 
do  their  evil  work;  then  undo  some  of  it  if  we  can;  let  who  will  scuttle  the 
ship  unhindered,  we  will  be  quite  content  to  save  a  few  of  the  passengers 
if  possible.  Or,  as  President  Welch  shrewdly  remarks,  '  It  is  a  mark  of 
sanity  to  turn  off  the  faucet  as  well  as  to  use  the  mop.'  " — The  Socialized 
Church,  pp.  209-215. 


76  The  Bible  Stvidy    Union  Lessons 

Lesson  28.    A  WEEK  IN  A  CITY  MISSION. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  inspire  a  personal  interest  in  the  work  done 
in  city  rescue  missions  for  lost  men  and  women. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Lesson  Notes  should  be  carefully  read.  They  contain  the  results 
of  a  personal  survey  of  city  mission  work.  These  with  the  additional 
information  given  below  will  furnish  about  all  the  material  the  teacher  will 
need  to  use  in  the  direct  presentation  of  the  lesson.  Further  interesting 
information  respecting  the  methods  and  results  of  rescue  work  in  a  famous 
New  York  City  mission  is  given  in  Hadley's  "  Down  in  Water  Street," 
published  by  Fleming  R.  Revell  Co.,  N.  Y.  The  article  in  World's  Work, 
December,  1912,  on  "  The  Inasmuch  Mission  "  should  be  obtained  if 
possible  and  given  attentive  reading. 

TEACHING   THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  Ask  a  member  of  the  class  to  prepare  a  brief  state- 
ment of  the  reasons  that  induce  the  immigrants  in  recent  years  to  remain 
in  such  large  numbers  in  the  cities  rather  than  distribute  themselves  over 
the  country. 

Another  might  be  asked  to  prepare  a  statement  in  regard  to  the  approxi- 
mate number  and  the  various  nationalities  of  those  living  within  reach  of 
his  church. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {1)  "  Rescue  missions  are  familiar 
enough  with  the  pitiful  attempts  of  broken  human  beings  to  rally  faith  and 
hope,  and  with  the  swift  collapse  of  the  enfeebled  will.  If  large  sections 
of  the  population  should  approximate  the  condition  of  the  hobo,  what 
chance  would  there  be  for  church  work  among  them? 

"  Poverty  does  approximate  that  condition.  It  creates  a  character  of 
its  own.  Constant  underfeeding  and  frequent  exhaustion  make  the  physi- 
cal tissues  flabby  and  the  brain  prone  to  depression  and  vacillation,  incap- 
able of  holding  tenaciously  to  a  distant  aim.  Mr.  Jacob  A.  Riis  says  that 
street  life  develops  in  the  child  '  a  dislike  of  regular  work,  physical  in- 
capability of  sustained  effort,  misdirected  love  of  adventure,  gambling 
propensities,  absence  of  energy,  an  untrained  will,  carelessness  of  the 
happiness  of  others.'  This  characterization  will  apply  to  the  human 
material  produced  by  modern  city  poverty  everywhere.  Religious  faith 
is  the  capacity  for  taking  long  outlooks  and  holding  minor  aims  under 
control  to  reach  the  highest.  Poverty  teaches  men  to  live  from  hand  to 
mouth  and  for  the  moment.  The  experience  of  the  Salvation  Army  shows 
that  the  poor  need  the  strongest  thrills  of  excitement  and  the  most  rigid 
discipline  to  arouse  and  hold  them." — Rauschenbusch :  Christianity  and 
the  Social  Crisis,  pp.  306,  307. 

The  above  statement  respecting  the  weakening  and  benumbing  effect 
of  simple  poverty  might  be  intensified  manifold  when  poverty  is  accom- 
panied by  drunkenness  and  other  demoralizing  vices.     The  fact  that  so 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  28  77 

large  a  number  of  those  converted  at  rescue  missions  hold  out  against  all 
inward  weakness  and  outward  temptation  until  a  thoroughly  stable  charac- 
ter has  been  re-established  shows  the  power  of  Christ  to  quicken  and 
sustain  a  spiritual  life  under  seemingly  hopeless  conditions. 

[3)  Many  of  the  workers  in  city  missions  are  persons  who  themselves 
have  been  won  back  from  the  bondage  and  degradation  of  sin  and  who 
can  re-enforce  their  testimony  by  appeals  to  their  past  experiences.  They 
have  known  the  unspeakable  misery  and  wretchedness  of  being  lost  to 
themselves,  their  families,  to  society,  and  to  God,  and  they  know  the  joy 
and  blessedness  of  restoration.  Testimonies  coming  from  such  persons 
inspire  confidence.  One  of  the  statements  most  frequently  heard  from 
those  who  had  lost  all  hope  for  this  world  is  respecting  the  effects  of  such 
testimonies  in  encouraging  them  also  to  trust  in  divine  power  for  help. 

Not  all  the  workers,  however,  are  of  this  kind.  As  stated  in  Note  2 
in  the  pupil's  book,  some  of  the  most  earnest  workers  at  the  Dover  Street 
Mission  are  consecrated  business  men  who  see  here  a  splendid  opportunity 
for  Christian  service  that  gives  rich  returns.  "  Here  and  there  a  church 
leader  has  had  a  vision  of  the  City  of  God  and  then  has  turned  his  eyes  to 
the  cities  of  destruction  whose  pavements  he  is  treading  and  has  uttered 
words  of  warning.  Books  and  pamphlets  are  finding  their  way  to  the 
quiet  tables  of  our  libraries,  and  thoughtful  men  and  women  are  rising  from 
their  reading  with  a  burden  on  their  hearts.  Reckless  and  passionate 
folk  who  love  Christ  fling  themselves  into  the  seething  life  of  the  city's 
underworld  and  ernerge  again  to  suggest  the  deep  descents  of  sin  which 
they  dare  not  describe,  and  to  plead  for  help  and  re-enforcements  from  the 
friends  of  Him  who  wept  over  a  city  and  died  for  its  citizens." — The 
Socialized  Church,  p.  247. 

(5)  "A  strangely  mixed  audience  gathers  nightly — men  and  women 
of  all  creeds  and  classes;  many  unbelieving  when  they  first  enter  the 
Mission;  some  drawn  by  singing,  others  by  some  invitation  from  friends, 
and  others  still,  drawn  by  some  hidden  power  they  cannot  explain.  Along 
the  street  they  come  to  the  very  door,  then  out  of  darkness  into  light,  how 
often  the  light  of  God." — Annual  Report,  Union  Rescue  Mission,  1912 
p.  10. 

"  Go  with  me  to  such  a  meeting  as  I  have  actually  attended  within  a 
few  days  at  the  Union  Rescue  Mission,  64a  Dover  Street,  in  Boston. 
It  is  Saturday  night,  an  evening  when  it  would  be  impossible  to  hold  a 
meeting  of  any  size  in  most  of  our  churches;  yet  the  room  is  crowded.  It 
is  not  a  congregation  of  loafers  and  ne'er-do-wells,  of  drunkards  and  prosti- 
tutes. Many  who  are  there,  to  be  sure,  could  once  have  had  all  these 
names  applied  to  them  with  truth ;  but  now,  as  you  look  over  the  company, 
you  see  that  it  is  quite  as  intelligent,  quite  as  well  dressed,  as  the  average 
congregation  of  men  and  women  who  evidently  work  for  a  living;  and 
these  are  the  best  kind  of  men  and  women. 

"  One  after  another,  as  the  meeting  is  thrown  open,  they  take  their 
part  rnodestly  and  quietly,  without  dwelh'ng  upon  the  sinful  past  except 
to  praise  God  for  their  deliverance,  and  to  point  the  contrast  as  they  tell 
of  the  new  life  in  which  they  have  found  blessing  and  joy. 


78  The  Bible  Study    Union  Lessons 

"  There  are  others  at  this  Rescue  Mission  besides  these  reformed  men. 
A  few  have  reeled  in  from  the  street  because  they  had  no  better  place  to 
go  to.  Too  intoxicated  even  to  be  allowed  to  remain  in  the  saloon,  they 
have  been  thrust  out  upon  the  cold  comfort  of  the  street ;  and  so  they  have 
wandered  into  this  haven  of  refuge." — Francis  E.  Clark,  D.D. 

(8)  "  Nearly  forty  thousand  people  have  come  to  the  Mission  [during 
the  year].  Over  seventeen  hundred  requested  prayer  and  twelve  hundred 
and  twenty-three  knelt  to  be  prayed  with,  many  confessing  Christ  as 
Saviour. 

"  We  do  not  claim  that  all  of  this  number  were  soundly  converted,  but 
we  do  know  of  many  who  are  living  clean  and  sober  lives  whose  case  seemed 
well-nigh  hopeless  from  a  human  standpoint. 

"  A  number  of  young  girls  found  Christ  in  the  Mission.  They,  too, 
reahze  that  in  Him  alone  is  found  strength  and  help  to  Hve  a  new  clean 
life.  .  .  . 

"  A  large  number  have  come  to  us  for  assistance  and  many  have  been 
tided  over  when  they  knew  not  which  way  to  turn.  No  worthy  case  is 
ever  turned  down.  Surely  this  is  a  labor  of  love,  yet  not  in  itself  sufficient. 
We  strive  to  press  home  the  claims  of  the  Gospel,  thus  fulfilling  our  mission 
of  feeding  both  soul  and  body. 

"  Eleven  hundred  and  sixty  were  given  free  lodgings,  and  over  five 
thousand  were  fed  at  the  Mission  suppers  (given  every  Thursday  night 
during  the  cold  weather)  and  near-by  restaurants. 

"  From  Christmas  till  New  Year's  free  midnight  suppers  a,re  given  to 
men,  and  it  is  a  strange  and  touching  sight  to  find  the  Mission  filled  at 
this  hour.  .  .  . 

"  On  Thanksgiving  day  mothers  and  children  gathered  for  the  distribu- 
tion of  baskets,  each  containing  two  good-sized  chickens  with  other  things 
to  make  a  good  dinner  for  six  persons. 

"  Christmas  day  an  entertainment  and  tree  was  given  to  the  children 
and  the  room  was  filled  to  overflowing." — Annual  Report,  Union  Rescue 
Mission,  1913,  pp.  8-10. 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.  How  can  we  answer  those  who  say, 
"It  is  no  use  trying  to  deal  with  certain  portions  of  the  community. 
They  are  irredeemable.     It  is  a  waste  of  time,  energy,  and  money"? 

"  We  bring  what  must  ever  be  the  decisive  argument:  *  The  Miracle 
of  Changed  Lives.'  There  is  no  lack  of  testimony.  In  all  classes,  in 
all  ranks,  in  all  countries,  men  and  women  have  borne  testimony  to  their 
faith  in  Christ  as  Saviour  and  Lord. 

"  But  we  need  not  go  beyond  our  own  city;  we  need  not  go  outside  of 
our  own  Rescue  Mission.  Here  men  and  women  who  have  been  the  despair 
of  their  friends  have  been  restored  to  nobility  of  character;  men  and 
women  who  have  been  most  hopeless  about  themselves  have  foimd 
abundant  hope  in  Christ. 

"  The  miserable  drunkard  has  quit  his  debauchery  forever  and  lifts 
up  his  head  in  the  new  found  freedom  of  restored  manhood. 

"  The  poor  girl  who  through  passion,  evil  environment,  pr  the  base 
treachery  of  designing  man  has  lost  virtue  and  stands  alone  in  the  world 
with  the  brand  of  shame  upon  her  brow,  without  friend  of  any  kind 
surrounded  by  a  righteousness  which  opens  no  door  to  her  and  an  iniquity 
which  stretches  from  every  side  welcoming  hands,   has  been   redeemed 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  29  79 

from  her  fallen  estate  to  the  high  level  of  sainthood  and  fellowship  with 
Him  who  said: '  Neither  do  I  condemn  thee:  go  and  sin  no  more! ' 

"  Young  men  allured  by  the  glamour  of  this  world's  attractions  and 
desiring  to  know  the  '  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season  '  only  to  find  themselves 
physical  and  spiritual  wrecks  have  had  their  God-given  powers  renewed 
by  a  Divine  quickening  and  set  to  their  proper  use  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

"  Men  of  little  native  ability  and  men  well-born  and  well-bred  who  have 
been  mastered  by  appetite  and  passion  and  become  fast-bound  in  the 
slavery  of  sin  have  listened  to  the  wondrous  story  of  God's  grace  in  Jesus 
Christ,  and  out  of  deep  despair  have  believed  the  message  of  hope  and 
cheer,  and  now  present  to  the  world  '  The  Miracle  of  Changed  Lives.'  " — 
Annual  Report,  Union  Rescue  Mission,  1912,  pp.  6-8. 

"  Who  will  say  that  such  work  is  not  worth  while? 

"  But  not  only  is  it  of  value  to  those  who  are  rescued,  but,  as  I  indicated 
at  the  beginning,  it  is  of  almost  equal  value  to  those  who  hear  the  testi- 
monies and  witness  these  resolves.  It  is  so  easy,  commonplace  a  thing  to 
become  a  professing  Christian,  in  these  days,  in  many  quarters;  it  seems 
to  mean  so  little  change  in  life  or  heart;  it  involves  so  little  self-sacrifice, 
so  little  that  is  new  in  conduct  or  service,  that  many  a  man  whose  name 
is  upon  the  church  rolls  has  scarcely  a  conception  of  our  Master's  words, 
'  Ye  must  be  born  again.' 

"  In  such  a  meeting,  however,  he  learns  their  tremendous  force;  here  he 
comes  to  know  hov;  mighty  a  dynamic  the  love  of  Christ  is,  how  it  purifies 
and  sweetens  the  inmost  springs  of  a  man's  being. 

"  Such  a  meeting  is  worth  a  score  of  lectures  in  theology  as  a  practical 
illustration  of  conversion  and  regeneration.  Sin  in  all  its  vileness  is  seen 
there,  and  Christ  with  His  mighty  power  that  is  stronger  than  the  devil 
is  also  seen. 

"  My  reader,  if  your  faith  is  wavering,  if  you  have  come  to  believe  that 
there  is  no  reality  in  conversion,  that  a  '  change  of  heart  '  is  simply  theo- 
logical cant,  that  psychology  solves  all  problems,  that  the  '  fall  of  man 
was  a  fall  upward,'  that  sin  is  merely  a  misfortune,  go  to  some  such  meeting 
as  I  have  described.  You  will  find  meetings  of  this  kind  in  every  large 
city,  and  you  will  go  away  realizing  the  almighty  power  of  such  a  Saviour 
as  these  men  have  foimd,  and  perhaps  your  own  need  of  Him  as  well." — 
Clark. 


Lesson  29.    REACHING  THE  IMMIGRANTS. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  quicken  the  sense  of  responsibility  which  each 
American  Christian  owes  to  the  vast  mass  of  foreigners  who  have  come  here 
in  recent  years,  and  to  show  that  this  responsibiUty  must  be  met  alike 
for  the  sake  of  the  state  and  the  church. 

PREPARING   THE  LESSON. 

This  lesson  touches  perhaps  the  most  important  problem  that  faces  us 
as  a  people.  It  is  nothing  less  than  whether  our  institutions  will  be  able 
to  bear  the  strain  put  upon  them  by  the  vast  number  of  immigrants  now 


80  The  Bible  Study    Union  Lessons 

arriving,  or  break  down  under  it.  The  cities  of  our  land  are  increasing  so 
rapidly  in  size  that  before  long  they  will  control  the  destiny  of  the  country. 
But  the  immigrants  are  settHng  in  such  masses  in  the  already  overcrowded 
cities  that  they  in  turn  will  control  the  cities.  At  present  there  seems  to 
be  no  prospect  of  this  incoming  tide  diminishing,  except  by  restrictive 
legislation  in  this  coimtry.  "  The  countries  of  the  Old  World  are  becoming 
more  and  more  crowded.  Europe  alone  could  send  us  3,000,000  every 
year — 300,000,000  during  the  twentieth  centiuy — and  yet  increase  the 
source  of  supply.'  The  two  books  by  Dr.  Grose  treat  the  problem  in  a 
hopeful  Christian  way.  The  two  by  Steiner  are  quite  optimistic,  holding 
that  the  great  Latin  and  Slavic  additions  from  southern  and  southeastern 
Europe  are  really  more  easily  assimilated  than  the  earher  additions  from 
northwestern  Europe.  Long's  book  is  somewhat  pessimistic  and  advocates 
restriction.  The  literature  on  the  subject  is  quite  large,  and  therefore 
teachers  will  find  it  easy  to  get  all  the  additional  help  they  need  from 
public  libraries. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  It  would  be  a  matter  of  great  interest  and  possibly 
of  practical  value  if  the  class  could  be  induced  to  imdertake  some  such 
local  survey  as  that  indicated  in  the  first  question  under  "  Subjects  for 
Special  Study  and  Note-Book  Work  "  in  Lesson  30.  If  the  class  belongs 
to  a  city  church,  the  teacher  might  well  ask  two  or  three  of  the  members, 
to  make  out  a  report  hke  that  suggested  in  the  second  question.  Con- 
siderable information  might  be  had  by  writing  to  one  or  more  local  ministers. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  (1)  "  Eleven  hundred  thousand  immi- 
grants in  1906;  a  million  in  1905;  ahnost  a  million  in  1903.  More  than 
five  millions  since  1900.  That  is  something  to  make  an  Amencan  pause 
and  ponder,  if  he  have  the  welfare  of  his  cormtry  at  heart.  _  What  does 
it  mean?  If  you  would  make  the  total  a  living  reaUty,  localize  it.  _  How 
many  people  are  there  in  your  city,  town,  or  village?  Divide  that  into  a 
milhon,  and  see  how  many  times  over  you  could  repopulate  your  place 
of  residence  with  the  immigrant  host  of  1906  or  1905.  How  many  towns 
of  ItaHans  and  Russian  Jews  and  Slavs  and  Germans  and  Scandma\aans 
would  you  have?  Take  the  illiterates  of  1905  (230,886  of  them)  and  how 
many  times  would  they  settle  your  town  anew?  The  immigration  of  the 
last  year  exceeds  the  population  of  Connecticut.  Imagme  the  Nutmeg 
State '  depopulated  and  then  repopulated  with  the  new  peoples.  Would 
not  that  be  a  field  for  the  missionaries?  Would  we  not,  m  such  a  case, 
realize  \d\adlv  what  must  be  done  to  Americanize  such  a  section?  The 
whole  country  would  stand  aghast  at  the  sight,  if  it  were  possible  to  segre- 
gate in  Connecticut  the  immigration  of  a  single  year.  But  it  is  somewhere 
in  the  country,  and  just  as  much  in  need  of  Amencamzation  and  evangeh- 
zation  as  though  it  were  grouped  all  together."— Grose:  The  Incoming 
Millions,  p.  15. 

(2-5)  These  questions  are  covered  by  the  Notes  on  the  Lesson. 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  29  81 

{6)  The  fact  that  so  large  a  part  of  the  recent  immigration  consists  of 
Russian  and  Polish  Jews  who  are  desperately  poor,  often  illiterate,  fanati- 
cally attached  to  their  ancestral  faith,  and  disposed  to  congregate  in  the 
Ghettos  of  the  great  cities,  has  been  regarded  by  many  as  a  serious  menace 
to  our  national  welfare.  On  the  other  hand  it  should  be  considered  that 
no  people  are  more  eager  to  embrace  every  opportunity  to  better  their 
condition  intellectually  and  materially;  that  they  stay  in  the  cities  because 
these  are  the  centers  of  the  industries  by  which  they  can  make  a  living 
from  the  start;  and  that  religious  exclusiveness,  consoHdated  by  oppres- 
sion, melts  away  in  an  atmosphere  of  freedom.  Every  one  who  has 
observed  the  effect  of  American  institutions  on  American  Judaism  can 
testify  to  the  truth  of  this  statement  by  Steiner:  "  It  is  undeniably  true, 
that  Judaism  in  America  faces  a  greater  crisis  than  it  faced  m  the  captivity 
of  Babylon.  There  Judaism  was  made,  here  it  is  unmade;  there  a  hope  of 
the  Messiah  grew  up  within  them,  here  the  term  is  so  strange  to  them 
that  it  needs  reiteration  and  interpretation.  The  loss  of  Judaism  in 
American  amounts  to  a  catastrophe,  and  from  the  present  outlook  its 
complete  dissolution  is  merely  a  matter  of  time,  only  retarded  by  the 
constant  influx  of  immigrants  from  Russia  and  Poland.  The  average  Jew 
of  America  has  become  so  Americanized  that  he  does  not  remember  the 
hole  from  which  he  was  dug,  or  that  Abraham  was  his  father  and  that 
Sarah  bore  him.  .  .  .  The  problem  with  the  Jew  is  not  how  to  make  him 
less  a  Jew;  but  to  make  him  a  better  Jew,  and  consequently  a  better 
American;  for  Judaism  properly  interpreted  has  in  it  all  the  elements  to 
make  men  good  citizens,  good  neighbors  and  good  friends." 

(7)  "  There  are  almost  as  many  Poles  in  Chicago  (275,000)  as  in  Lodz, 
Poland  (315,000);  more  Bohemians  (116,000)  in  Chicago  than  in  Brunn, 
Bohemia  (109,346) ;  as  many  Italians  in  New  York  as  in  Rome,  and  what 
shall  we  say  of  the  Jews— 800,000  to  1,000,000  strong  in  New  York  City- 
one  sixteenth  of  the  Jewish  population  of  the  world,  compared  with  which 
Jerusalem  seems  but  a  hamlet;  indeed.  New  York  has  a  '  Jerusalem  '  in 
every  borough." — Sears:   The  Redemption  of  the  City,  p.  154. 

"  The  quarters  of  American  cities  where  the  foreigners  live  are  not  the 
worst  quarters;  and  I  would  rather  trust  myself  in  the  dark  to  the  mys- 
teries of  Hester  Street  than  to  certain  portions  of  the  West  side  exclusively 
populated  by  a  certain  type  of  degenerate  Americans.  Recently  a  pro- 
fessor of  economics  in  one  of  our  universities  asked  me  to  show  him  those 
terrible  parts  of  New  York  where  the  foreigners  live.  ...  I  took  him 
across  the  Bowery,  which  has  lost  its  terrors  since  it  became  foreign  ter- 
ritory, across  the  streets  of  the  Ghetto  and  along  its  avenues.  _We  found 
the  supposed  unhappy  children  well  dressed  and  well  fed,  dancing  to  the 
notes  of  the  hurdy-gurdy  grinder.  ...  We  walked  through  endless  rows 
of  tenements  and  saw  men  engaged  in  lawful  pursuits;  from  the  garret 
to  the  cellar  the  Ghetto  was  a  beehive  of  industry.  We  saw  no  street 
loafers,  drunkards  or  idlers.  In  '  Little  Hungary,'  where  we  ate  and 
enjoyed  a  daintily  served  dinner,  we  loitered  until  evening,  when  we  met 
a  great  army  of  men  and  women  who  came  pouring  in  from  Broadway's 
stores  and  shops,  walking  with  that  pride  and  happiness  which^  comes 
from  the  consciousness  of  having  done  a  day's  work,  and  done  it  well. 


82  The  Bible  Study    Union  Lessons 

Aly  friend  was  very  much  disappointed  because  he  saw  no  horrors,  no 
unliapp}^  children  or  unhappy  men. 

"  Again  we  passed  the  Bowery,  going  on  to  the  American  section  of 
New  York,  the  Rialto.  Here  were  horrors  enough;  whole  blocks  where 
there  were  no  children;  for  both  the  very  wicked  and  the  very  rich  are  not 
blessed  by  them.  Young  and  old  men,  fashionably  dressed  and  properly 
tipsy,  went  in  to  cheap  shows,  saloons  and  brothels,  to  have  a  '  good  time.' 
These  young  men,  rich  sons  of  rich  fathers,  and  these  old  men,  are  idlers 
and  perverters  of  their  own  passions.  They  and  they  alone  are  the  great 
problem  wliich  we  have  need  to  fear;  for  it  is  a  problem  which  cannot 
be  solved." — Steiner:  On  the  Trail  of  the  Immigrant,  pp.  304-306. 

{10)  "  The  hope  of  America's  evangelization  is  increased  by  the  fact 
that  the  pure  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  is  so  essentially  democratic  in  its 
fundamental  teachings  of  the  brotherhood  of  man,  of  spiritual  liberty  and 
unity.  The  immigrant  comes  into  a  new  environment,  created  alike  by 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  cannot  escape  its  influence.  Political 
liberty  teaches  the  meaning  of  soul  liberty,  and  leads  the  way  slowly  but 
surel}^  to  it.  .  .  .  The  peril  of  this  is  that  to  him  the  main  idea  of  Hberty 
is  license.  The  true  meaning  of  the  word  he  must  be  taught  by  the  Chris- 
tian missionary,  for  certainly  he  will  not  learn  it  from  the  church  to  which 
he  commonly  belongs.  Here,  then,  is  the  opportunity  for  the  pure  Gospel 
and  for  the  Christian  missionary. 

"  Adding  the  natural  appeal  of  the  Gospel  in  its  simplicity  to  this  favor- 
ing democratic  environment,  there  is  every  reason  for  optimism  concerning 
immigration,  if  only  American  Protestants  prove  true  to  its  opportunity 
and  duty.  .  .  .  We  believe  the  day  is  not  distant  when  American  Protes- 
tantism will  present  a  united  front  and  press  forward  irresistibly.  For 
the  hastening  of  this  day  let  us  pray  and  work." — Grose:  Aliens  or 
Americans,  pp.  297,  298. 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.  How  can  we  help  to  keep  America 
a  Christian  nation? 

"  The  trouble  is  that  the  alien  and  the  American  do  not  know  each 
other.  Aversion  on  the  one  side  is  met  by  suspicion  on  the  other.  Shut 
away  from  intercourse,  the  alien  becomes  more  alienated,  and  the  American 
more  opinionated,  with  results  that  may  easily  breed  trouble.  The  anti- 
dote for  prejudice  is  knowledge.  Immigration  has  made  it  possible — and 
in  this  case  possibility  is  duty — for  the  consecrated  Christian,  in  this 
day  and  land  of  marvelous  opportunity,  to  be  a  missionary — not  by  proxy 
but  in  person. 

"  Here  is  the  foreigner  in  every  community.  You  meet  him  in  a  hundred 
places  where  the  personal  contact  is  possible.  Did  it  ever  occur  to  you 
that  you  could  do  .something  directly  for  the  evangelization  of  the  Greek 
or  Italian  fruit  vender  or  bootblack  or  laborer?  Have  you  ever  felt  any 
responsibility  for  the  salvation  of  these  commonly  despised  foreigners? 
Have  you  laughed  at  them,  or  shown  your  contempt  and  dislike  for  them  as 
they  have  crowded  the  public  places?  The  evangelization  of  the  foreigners 
in  America  must  be  effected  by  the  direct  missionary  effort  of  the  masses 
of  American  Christians.  That  is  the  fundamental  truth.  The  work 
cannot  be  delegated  to  Home  Mission  Boards  or  any  other  agencies,  no 
matter  how  good  and  strong  in  their  place. 

"  Hence,  let  all  emphasis  be  put  here  upon  personal  responsibility  and 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  SO  83 

opportunity.  Be  a  missionary  yourself.  Reach  and  teach  some  one  of 
these  newcomers,  and  you  will  do  your  part.  Do  not  begin  with  talking 
about  religion.  Make  the  chance  to  get  acquainted;  then  after  you  have 
shown  genuine  human  interest  and  won  confidence,  the  way  will  be  open 
for  the  Gospel  that  has  already  been  felt  in  human  helpfulness.  As  a 
result  of  this  study,  which  has  taught  you  to  discriminate  and  to  be  chari- 
table to  all  peoples,  the  new  attitude  and  sympathy  will  enable  you  to 
approach  those  who  have  been  brought  within  your  sphere  of  influence. 
There  is  a  field  of  magnificent  breadth  open  to  our  young  people." — Grose: 
Aliens  or  Americans,  pp.  289-291. 


Lesson  30.    THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  COUNTRY 
CHURCH. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  give  information  in  respect  to  the  difficulties 
that  beset  country  churches  and  to  awaken  interest  in  means  for  their 
alleviation. 

PREPARING   THE   LESSON. 

Teachers  will  find  in  the  additional  material  given  below  information 
with  which  to  supplement  the  notes  in  the  pupil's  lesson.  Exceedingly 
valuable  help  would  be  obtained  by  sending  for  one  of  the  Rural  Surveys 
mentioned  in  Note  2.  The  price  is  ten  cents  each.  If  your  church  is 
situated  in  or  near  the  country,  this  lesson  will  give  an  excellent  oppor- 
tunity to  study  the  actual  condition  of  some  of  these  churches,  and  to 
compare  the  difficulties  which  they  face  with  those  described  in  the  lesson. 
Such  a  survey  may  show  that  the  small  country  churches  in  their  way  are 
facing  problems  as  momentous  as  the  larger  city  churches.  Much  valuable 
information  is  also  given  in  Wilson's  The  Church  of  the  Open  Country. 

TEACHING   THE   LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  Ask  some  member  of  the  class  to  bring  in  a  short 
sketch  of  the  work  of  John  Frederic  Oberlin.     See  Encyclopedias. 

Another  might  be  asked  to  give  reasons  for  believing  that  one  strong 
church  is  in  position  to  render  the  community  a  better  service  than  several 
small  and  weak  ones. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {1)  In  an  article  in  The  Watchman  for 
October  24,  1912,  the  Rev.  Gordon  C.  Warren  writing  of  "  Evangelism 
for  the  Country,"  presents  interesting  information  bearing  on  this  lesson. 
Of  the  need  of  such  evangelism  he  says: 

"  Where  can  evangelism  count  for  more  in  the  kingdom  and  tell  more 
effectively  upon  the  nation  than  that  carried  on  in  our  country  towns  and 
rural  districts?     Evangelism  there  will  touch  vitally  our  national  and  church 


84  The  Bible  Study    Union  Lessons 

life,  for  the  country  church  has  ever  been  the  training  school  for  those 
men  who  have  written  their  names  in  capital  letters  on  the  honor  roll  of 
our  national  histor3^  To  evangelize  our  country  districts,  therefore,  is 
to  touch  that  rural  life  which  has  sent  a  steady  procession  of  leaders  into 
our  national  affairs  and  to  inspire  our  future  leaders  with  Christian  ideals 
and  aspirations.  Nowhere  is  evangelism  more  important  than  in  our 
neglected  rural  communities. 

"  Wide  as  is  the  influence  of  rural  evangelism  and  vital  as  is  its  impor- 
tance on  church  and  nation,  yet,  perhaps,  nowhere  is  it  more  sadly  needed 
today  than  in  our  country  districts.  Time  was  when  our  rural  commu- 
nities were  the  scenes  of  great  revival  movements.  Regret  it  as  we  may, 
that  day  has  gone  by  and  many  of  us  are  not  expecting  its  early  return. 
Time  was  when  church  attendance  was  the  rule,  but  today  it  is  fast  be- 
coming the  exception.     Our  rural  churches  are  facing  a  real  crisis." 

(5)  Mr.  Warren  shows  that  a  decrease  of  population  in  country  districts, 
as  noted  in  the  lesson,  is  true  also  of  New  Hampshire,  where  he  lives. 
"  Country  people  are  setting  their  faces  to  the  town.  The  abandoned 
farms  on  our  New  Hampshire  hillsides  testify  to  a  diminishing  population. 
According  to  the  last  census  the  majority  of  the  rural  communities  of  this 
state  show  a  decrease  while  the  larger  towns  show  marked  increase.  It 
is  the  more  ambitious  young  people  who  have  gone  out  from  our  country 
churches  and  thus  left  them  depleted  of  their  best  blood.  The  village 
church  that  once  was  a  vital  factor  in  the  community  is  now  living  on  its 
past  efficiency.  It  has  largely  lost  its  old-time  power  and  virility.  It  is 
not  gripping  the  life  of  the  community." 

(jj  "  The  social  life  is  centered  around  villages.  It  is  almost  entirely 
lacking  in  the  communities  without  village  centers.  In  57  per  cent  of 
the  communities  there  is  little  or  no  social  life.  In  20  per  cent  there  is 
a  medium  amount  of  social  life,  while  in  23  per  cent  there  may  be  said 
to  be  many  social  activities.  Each  community  furnishing  much  social 
life  has  a  village  of  five  hundred  or  more  inhabitants.  The  following  forms 
of  amusement  and  recreation  are  named  in  order  of  their  popularity: 

"  Socials  (one  or  more  a  year),  picnics  (one  or  more  a  year),  entertain- 
ments (one  or  more  a  year),  much  visiting,  baseball  (Sunday  and  week 
days),  dances,  cards,  home  talent  plays,  basketball,  pool  rooms,  motion 
picture  shows,  lecture  course,  literary  societies,  parks,  theatres,  fairs, 
tennis,  Chautauqua,  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  bowHng,  football. 

"  If  the  church  objects  to  any  of  the  above  forms  of  recreation  on  the 
grounds  of  their  having  immoral  tendencies,  it  ought  to  see  that  these 
same  forms  are  provided  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  of  moral  value,  or  to  pro- 
vide higher  forms  of  amusement  and  recreation  for  the  community.  As 
it  is,  too  many  churches  feel  that  they  have  done  their  duty  when  they 
have  condemned  everything  around  them  which  seems  immoral.  If 
the  church  is  to  win  the  community  it  must  do  something  to  make  the 
recreational  life  of  the  community  wholesome  and  helpfiil. 

"  In  the  communities  where  there  is  httle  or  no  social  life  only  20  per 
cent  of  the  churches  are  growing,  while  16  per  cent  are  standing  still  and 
64  per  cent  are  losing  ground.  This  shows  us  how  closely  the  prosperity 
of  the  church  is  related  to  the  general  social  life  of  the  community.  Stagna- 
tion in  religious  life  goes  hand  in  hand  with  stagnation  in  social  life." — 
Rural  Survey  "Indiana,"  pp.  82,  84. 

{9)   "  If  religion  were  measured  by  the  number  of  reHgious  organizations 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  30  85 

these  three  counties  in  Indiana  would  be  very  religious  indeed.  Minister- 
ing to  the  spiritual  life  of  their  people  are  forty-one  denominations.  It 
would  seem  as  if  no  shade  of  truth  were  overlooked.  The  Church  of  God 
appears  in  three  forms:  Church  of  God  ( Winebrennarian) ,  Church  of  God 
(Adventist),  Church  of  God  (Saints).  There  are  two  kinds  of  Disciples; 
the  Disciples  or  Christians  and  the  Disciples  (Nonprogressive).  Over 
against  the  latter  we  find  the  Progressive  Brethren.  There  are  two  other 
kinds  of  brethren — the  United  Brethren  and  the  United  Brethren  (Old 
Constitution).  There  is  the  Holiness  Church,  and  besides  that  the  Pente- 
costal Holiness.  Then  there  is  the  Millennial  Dawn,  the  Amish  Men- 
nonite,  six  kinds  of  Baptists,  besides  denominations  that  are  Baptist  in 
practice,  but  not  in  name ;  three  kinds  of  Presbyterians,  four  denominations 
bearing  the  Methodist  name,  three  the  Lutheran  name,  two  the  name 
Evangelical.  Of  course  there  are  the  Episcopalians,  the  Congregationalists, 
and  the  Catholics.  Finally,  in  name  if  not  in  spirit  most  typical  of  this 
whole  condition  of  religious  division  and  competition,  there  are  the  Come- 
outers.  Under  such  circumstances  it  is  not  surprising  to  learn  that  one 
of  the  ministers  in  a  village  community  declared: '  I  have  taken  in  a  hundred 
and  thirteen  members  in  my  three  churches,  and  thirty-five  of  these  have 
come  from  the  other  denominations.  I  tell  you,  my  denomination  is 
growing  in  these  parts.'  He  could  hardly  have  been  more  enthusiastic 
if  he  had  drawn  customers  from  a  rival  retail  shop.  Perhaps  the  height 
of  this  enthusiasm  for  competitive  religions  was  expressed  by  the  inhabitant 
who  said,  as  reported,  that  *  If  the  Methodist  church  were  on  fire,  and 
he  should  happen  to  pass  by,  and  if  there  were  a  bucket  of  water  standing 
near,  he  would  kick  the  bucket  over.'  This  denominational  rivalry  is 
sometimes  a  matter  of  sound  conviction.  '  A  Baptist  minister,'  it  is 
related  in  this  report,  '  preached  to  members  of  another  denomination 
and  then  refused  to  take  communion  with  them.  Another  minister  could 
not  take  communion  with  his  own  wife.'  " — The  Outlook,  January  18,  1913. 

{12)  "  There  is  much  in  the  present  trend  of  things  which  augurs  well 
for  rural  progress.  The  trolley  car,  the  telephone,  the  movement  for  good 
roads  are  bringing  the  country  folk  into  closer  touch,  because  of  easier 
communication  with  each  other.  Rural  free  deHvery  and  parcel  post 
will  keep  them  in  closer  touch  with  the  outside  world.  Forestry  is  to 
change  worthless  hillsides  into  savings  banks.  Agitation  and  legislation — 
not  forgetting  President  Roosevelt's  Commission  on  Rural  Improvement — 
are  looking  largely  to  the  welfare  of  the  country  people  and  to  rural  prog- 
ress.. In  that  progress  the  country  church  will  share  and,  what  is  more 
essential,  will  do  its  share." — Recent  Christian  Progress,  p.  402. 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.  What  are  some  of  the  chief  reasons 
for  the  decrease  in  country  population? 

In  addition  to  those  noted  in  the  lesson  attention  should  be  called  to 
the  following  reasons  for  a  decreasing  rural  population:  {1)  Smaller  families. 
A  generation  ago  families  of  eight  or  ten  children  were  not  uncommon. 
Now  they  would  be  considered  among  our  native  population  almost 
extraordinary.  {2)  The  increased  use  of  farm  machinery  enables  the 
farmer  to  do  his  work  with  half  or  a  quarter  of  the  help  formerly  required. 
(5)  "  The  price  of  farm  land  has  more  than  doubled  [during  the  last  twelve 
years].     But  there  has  been  no  corresponding  increase  in  the  income 


86  The  Bible  Study    Union  Lessons 

derived  from  the  land.  The  farmer  has  a  larger  capital  but  smaller  interest. 
Naturally  he  wants  to  sell.  When  he  sells  he  moves,  and  when  he  moves 
he  and  his  family  go  out  of  the  coimtry  school  and  the  country  church 
and  the  community  life  altogether." — World's  Work,  March,  1913. 

(^)  The  younger  generation  has  left  the  farm  to  seek  better  education 
and  better  opportunities.  (5)  The  young  men  do  not  object  to  hard  work, 
but  they  do  object  to  hard  work  without  any  play.  The  barrenness  of 
coimtry  life  has  diiven  hosts  of  yoimg  people  from  the  farms.  {6)  Most 
of  the  teachers  in  country  schools  have  been  young  men  or  yoimg  women 
from  the  city  who  had  no  knowledge  of  country  life  or  of  imparting  en- 
thusiasm for  its  possibilities.  When  these  teachers  are  country  bom  they 
have  usually  been  sent  away  to  be  educated  in  the  city,  where  they  have 
acquired  a  training  fitted  for  city  life.  (7)  The  best  and  strongest  char- 
acters have  been  drawn  away  into  the  cities,  leaving  those  less  fitted  for 
leadership.  Furthermore,  the  persistent  and  cheap  newspaper  jibes  and 
caricatures  at  the  farmer's  expense  have  developed  in  him  a  feeling  of 
inferiority.  Men  who  see  their  whole  class  represented  as  long-whiskered, 
ill-dressed  louts  and  hear  themselves  designated  as  "  Hayseed  "  or  "  Corn- 
tossel,"  will  soon  begin  to  think  of  themselves  as  on  a  lower  plane  than  the 
men  and  women  of  the  city.  A  boy  or  girl  of  any  spirit  will  seek  escape 
into  what  he  thinks  is  the  higher  social  class. 


Lesson  31.    NEW  LIFE  IN  COUNTRY  CHURCHES. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  realize  the  advantages  that  would  come  to 
country  churches  from  social  service. 

PREPARING   THE   LESSON. 

In  this  lesson  it  would  be  a  great  advantage  to  the  class  if  the  teacher 
could  provide  one  or  more  concrete  examples  of  how  country  churches 
have  come  into  the  experience  of  a  new  and  stronger  religious  life  by  realiz- 
ing that  Christianity  means  the  promotion  of  better  living  in  this  worid 
as  well  as  salvation  in  the  next.  Each  of  the  points  touched  in  the  lesson 
might  be  greatly  expanded.  An  abundance  of  material  will  be  found  in 
Wilson's  "  The  Church  of  the  Open  Country,"  in  Ashenhurst's  "  The 
Day  of  the  Country  Church,"  or  in  Butterfield's  admirable  discussion  of 
"  The  Country  Church  and  the  Rural  Problem."  If  these,  or  similar 
books,  are  not  available,  brief  practical  illustrations  of  the  rejuvenation  of 
country  churches  will  be  found  below. 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  31  87 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignment.  A  brief  paper  on  the  extent  of  the  original  forests 
in  the  United  States,  the  extent  to  which  their  vast  area  has  been  cut 
over,  and  the  amount  of  virgin  forests  that  still  remain,  might  be  helpful 
in  getting  an  idea  of  the  condition  of  the  lumber  industry  at  the  present 
time,  and  the  continued  need  for  missionary  efforts. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  Instead  of  material  supplementing  the 
several  notes  on  the  lesson,  the  space  will  be  given  to  illustrations  of 
efficiency  among  country  churches. 

Example  of  a  Wisconsin  Minister.  "  A  minister  in  Wisconsin,  whose 
preparation  had  included  some  years  as  detective,  to  the  sharpening  of 
his  wits  and  the  increasing  of  his  resources,  had  become  the  pastor  of  a 
community  of  railroad  men  and  farmers.  Suddenly  by  the  fiat  of  the 
railroad,  hundreds  of  his  parishioners  moved  away  in  a  day,  leaving  the 
church  and  the  school  and  the  store  in  a  depleted  community  robbed  of 
more  than  one-half  its  strength.  Mr.  Martin  turned  to  the  farming  of 
the  land  himself.  Realizing  that  his  parishioners  were  now  only  farmers, 
he  led  them  in  the  tillage  of  the  soil,  setting  the  example  to  encourage 
those  who  were  likely  to  despair.  By  his  leadership  the  owners  of  a  pickle 
factory  were  induced  to  build  a  plant  in  the  community,  and  farmers 
were  persuaded  to  undertake  the  raising  of  cucumbers  on  a  large  scale. 
He  assembled  the  farmers,  and  persuaded  them,  with  the  storekeeper,  to 
transform  the  store  into  a  co-operative  enterprise,  with  a  capital  of  $12,000, 
distributed  in  one  hundred  and  twenty  shares.  On  this  capital  interest 
is  paid  not  to  exceed  six  per  cent,  and  the  surplus  profit  of  the  store,  in 
which  the  storekeeper  owns  ten  shares,  is  distributed  equally  among  the 
farmers  according  to  the  size  of  their  accounts.  This  community  has 
been  rejuvenated  by  the  leadership  of  a  man  who  was  unwilling  that  a 
change  in  the  market  should  ruin  the  community." — 'Wilson:  The  Church 
of  the  Open  Country,  pp.  162,  163. 

Ministry  in  Social  Terms.  "  Near  Albion,  New  York,  in  the  great 
apple  country,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hares  has  extended  the  service  of  his  church 
to  the  people  of  the  whole  community.  Like  every  other  successful  act, 
it  is  difficult  to  analyze,  but  the  obvious  thing  is  that  the  people  of  the 
community  have  been  united  through  a  ministry  to  the  young  people  and 
the  working  people.  The  church  is  thronged  with  gatherings  at  which 
all  are  present.  The  programs  of  these  social  meetings  are  musical, 
literary,  recreative,  and  they  appeal  to  the  mind  which  in  that  community 
is  marginal.  For  the  trouble  in  that  great,  rich  apple  country  is  lack  of 
social  life  which  will  make  the  country  worth  while.  There  is  plenty  of 
money,  but  little  motive  for  workingmen  or  for  the  youth  of  the  community 
to  remain  out  in  the  country  where  the  money  is  made.  The  service  of 
this  church  is  founded  in  a  ministry  to  the  whole  community  in  social 
terms,  and  its  results  are  gathered  in  religious  union  and  spiritual  gains." — 
Ibid.,  p.  164. 

Ministry  in  Economic  Terms.  "  Prof.  L.  H.  Bailey  of  Cornell  Uni- 
versity says  that  the  best  system  of  co-operative  creameries  in  the 
United  States  is  in  Minnesota,  and  it  was  the  work  of  a  country  minister. 
Ministers  who  are  so  helping  the  community  as  this  one  are  able  to 
command  the  religious  forces  of  the  community,  because  they  serve  the 


88  The  Bible  Study    Union  Lessons 

marginal  needs  of  the  community.  The  Minnesota  parish  of  which  this 
man  was  minister  was  suffering  from  the  poverty  under  which  the  milk 
farmer  must  labor.  Under  his  guidance  they  were  lifted  out  of  this  con- 
dition and  their  example  has  been  widely  followed  throughout  the  State. 
Each  of  these  cases  serves  to  illustrate  the  principle  of  selection,  by  which 
social  service  shall  be  successftil.  That  principle  is  that,  to  serve  the  whole 
community,  a  man  or  woman  must  bestow  his  life  upon  those  who,  being 
helped,  will  benefit  the  whole  commimity." — Ibid.,  pp.  164,  165. 

An  Enterprising  Village  Blacksmith,  "  At  Florida,  New  York,  the  old 
church  of  the  farmers  is  matched  now  by  a  church  of  Roman  Catholic 
Poles.  The  old  Protestant  folk  are  slowly  losing  groimd:  the  Poles  are 
rapidly  gaining.  The  Poles  are  industrious,  thrifty,  and  far-sighted  in 
their  farming.  The  Presbyterians  are  inclined  to  abandon  the  farm  for 
the  life  of  the  cities,  but  in  the  old  church  is  a  brotherhood  of  men  who 
under  the  leadership  of  the  town  blacksmith,  a  man  who  has  had  the  same 
shop  in  the  village  for  over  fifty  years,  have  undertaken  community  en- 
terprises. .  . 

"  The  first  move  was  to  light  the  streets  of  the  town.  Much  discomfort 
and  some  disorder  had  resulted  from  dark  streets.  The  whole  village 
united  in  the  enterprise  of  lighting  it,  and  has  shared  the  common  benefit. 
The  second  enterprise  formed  by  this  brotherhood  was  the  floating  of  a 
bank  in  the  village.  The  saloon  keeper  had  been  the  banker,  and  the 
working  men  of  the  town  had  been  obliged  to  pay  him  a  heavy  tax  for  the 
cashing  of|checks.  When  the  men  of  the  Presb3rterian  church  proposed  a 
bank,  they  got  the  allegiance  for  the  first  time  of  the  Polish  Catholics 
who  voted  solidly,  with  their  priest  at  their  head,  in  favor  of  the  bank  at 
the  popular  meeting  called  by  the  brotherhood." — Ibid.,  pp.  169,  170. 

Keeping  the  Land  for  Christian  Farmers.  "  If  the  need  is  for  better 
farming,  the  church  tries  to  encourage  it.  Acting  on  the  principle  that 
the  land  is  ultimately  to  pass  into  the  hands  of  those  who  can  produce 
most  upon  it,  the  church  tries  to  make  Christian  farmers  better  farmers 
than  non-Christians,  so  that  the  land  wiil_  go  into  Christian  hands  and 
the  community  become  a  Christian  community.  For  years  the  Steel  Creek 
church  in  Mechlenburg  County,  N.  C,  has  seen  to  it  that  whenever  a 
farmer  in  the  community  wishes  to  sell  and  to  move  out,  one  of  its  members 
gets  the  land.  To  hold  it  he  must  be  or  become  a  good  farmer.  This 
church  now  has  a  membership  of  675."—Wcrld's  Work,  March,  1913,  p. 
558. 

Churches  that  Fail  in  Duty.  "  The  village  of  Lapaz  (252  mhabitants, 
Marshall  County)  with  the  surrounding  country  enjoys  a  fair  amount  of 
social  life.  There  is  an  annual  Old  Settlers'  Picnic  which  the  whole  com- 
munity attends.  Public  dances  are  held  every  two  weeks.  The  young 
people  have  a  social  every  month.  The  school  gives  home-talent  plays, 
entertainments  and  socials.  But  in  no  other  community  in  the  three  coun- 
ties is  the  church  in  such  a  sad  condition  as  here.  The  attitude  of  the 
churches  toward  social  life  may  help  to  account  for  this.  The  only  social 
event  in  the  village  under  church  auspices  is  the  United  Brethren  Sunday 
school  picnic,  which  occurs  every  two  years.  The  Lutherans  had  their 
last  picnic  fifteen  years  ago  and  the  Wesleyans  are  opposed  to  social  life. 
The  people  outside  the  churches  claim  that  the  ministers  do  nothing  but 
abuse  the  people.  Is  there  any  wonder  that  only  twenty  people  in  the 
village  belong  to  the  three  village  churches  and  no  boy  under  twenty-one 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  82  89 

belongs  to  any  church?  The  church  here  is  wilfully  neglecting  the  boy's 
natural  instinct  for  play  and  recreation.  The  saloon  is  taking  advantage 
of  the  opportunity  the  church  has  given  it  and  boys  get  drunk  on  the 
streets  of  Lapaz." — Rural  Survey,  "Indiana,"  p.  85. 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.  Should  pastors  of  rural  churches 
receive  a  special  training  for  their  woric? 

"  There  is  absolutely  nothing  in  the  present  formal  training  of  ministers 
that  points  them  to  the  rural  parish  as  a  distinct  field  of  service,  or  that 
specially  fits  them  to  understand  the  character  and  direction  of  the  great 
forces  that  are  making  for  an  energized  rural  community,  or  that  gives 
them  any  insight  into  the  rural  mind  and  heart.  But  rural  people  do 
their  work,  think  their  thoughts,  develop  their  instincts,  live  their  lives, 
under  conditions  not  at  all  like  those  of  the  city.  _  The  rural  parish  is 
rapidly  becoming  a  special,  unique  field.  The  ordinary  preparation  of 
ministers  ignores  this  fact. 

"  Of  even  more  importance  is  it  that  the  country  clergyman  shall  have 
a  grasp  of  the  broader  phases  of  the  rural  problem.  He  is  to  be  a  leader 
of  the  community.  The  average  individual  farmer  thinks  in  terms  of  his 
own  farm,  of  his  own  necessity  of  making  a  living,  of  his  own  little  problems; 
but  the  leader  in  rural  life  must  understand  the  larger  implications  of  this 
new  movement  for  agriculture.  He  ought  to  know  something  about  the 
great  forces  that  are  controlling  the  market  for  agricultural  products, 
the  methods  of  business  co-operation  which  must  be  invoked  as  never 
before  by  our  American  farmers;  in  fine,  the  large  economic  considerations 
that  affect  the  total  industry  of  agriculture. 

"  And  what  is  true  of  agricultural  economics  is  true  also  of  the  more 
purely  social  phases.  Such  questions  as  the  value  of  farmer's  organiza- 
tions; the  development  of  the  proper  kind  of  rural  schools,  the  influence 
of  the  rural  environment  upon  the  family  and  individual  life;  a  program 
for  rural  betterment;  the  co-operation  of  rural  institutions  in  carrying  out 
this  program — these  and  allied  questions  are  absolutely  fundamental 
considerations  in  any  broad  view  of  rural  community  development. 

"  The  church  has  a  distinct  relationship  to  these  matters,  and  the 
country  clergyman,  as  a  community  leader,  must  understand  something 
about  the  general  principles  involved,  and  about  the  historyof  attempts  to 
apply  these  principles." — Condensed  from  Religious  Education,  December, 
1910,  pp.  439-441. 


Lesson  32.    THE  GOSPEL  IN  MINING  AND 
LUMBER  CAMPS. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  impart  information  that  shall  awaken  sym- 
pathetic interest  in  missionary  work  among  miners  and  lumbermen. 

PREPARING  THE   LESSON. 

Literature  bearing  on  this  lesson  is  by  no  means  plentiful.  If  the 
teacher  can  procure  Norman  Duncan's  little  book  on  "  Higgins — A  Man's 
Christian,"  and  pass  it  around  in  the  class,  it  will  prove  not  only  interesting 


90  The  Bible  Study    Union  Lessons 

as  any  novel,  but  inspiring  in  its  showing  of  what  a  man  can  do  who  is 
"on  his  job,"  and  fitted  for  it.  The  chief  interest  of  the  lesson  lies  in 
its  revelations  respecting  a  line  of  missionary  work  in  our  own  country 
almost  unique  in  its  character,  of  great  importance,  and  yet  well-nigh 
imknown  among  church  people  who  are  fairly  well  acquainted  with  other 
lines  of  missionary  endeavor. 

TEACHING   THE   LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  Ask  a  member  of  the  class  to  ascertain  the  average 
salary  paid  to  missionaries  on  the  foreign  field,  and  the  cost  of  supplies 
such  as  civiHzed  people  must  have,  and  have  him  show  how  this  bears  on 
the  charge  sometimes  made  that  the  missionaries  live  in  "  princely 
affluence." 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  (1)  "  The  first  preacher  in  Deadwood 
stood  on  a  box  preaching  when  all  around  him  were  saloons,  gambling 
houses  and  worse.  He  was  hstened  to  by  many  in  spite  of  the  turmoil 
all  around  him,  and  the  collection  was  of  gold  dust.  It  was  accidentally 
spilled  on  the  ground,  when  some  good-hearted  miner  washed  it  out  for 
him.  The  good  man  was  shot  the  next  day  as  he  was  going  over  the  divide 
to  preach  in  Lead  City.  The  miners  had  nothing  to  do  with  it;  but  they 
not  only  got  up  a  generous  collection,  but  sent  East  and  helped  the  man's 
family. 

"  Often  a  preacher  has  his  chapel  over  a  saloon  where  the  audience  can 
hear  the  sharp  chck  of  the  billiard  balls,  the  rattle  of  the  dice,  and  the 
profanity  of  the  crowd  below.  .  .  .  The  very  deviltry  and  awfulness  of 
sin  drove  some  men  to  a  better  life  who  imder  other  circumstances  would 
never  have  gone  to  church.  Many  men  were  hanged  for  stealing  horses, 
very  few  for  killing  a  man;  while  many  a  would-be  suicide  has  been  saved 
by  the  efforts  of  a  true-hearted  minuteman." — Puddefoot:  Mlnuteman 
on  the  Frontier,  pp.  199,  200. 

{3)  Government  surveys  have  showm  that  the  original  forests  of  the 
United  States  covered  about  850,000,000  acres,  and  that  they  contained 
timber  in  variety  and  quantity  surpassing  that  of  any  area  of  similar  size 
in  the  world.  Heavy  inroads  have  been  made  on  the  timber  in  all  parts 
of  the  country,  especially  on  that  in  regions  most  accessible  to  the  markets, 
such  as  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  and  Vermont.  The  great  pineries  in  the 
states  bordering  on  the  Great  Lakes  have  been  almost  depleted.  This 
heavy  cutting  is  pushing  the  great  centers  of  the  lumber  industry  toward 
the  remote  West  and  into  the  South.  The  rapid  destruction  of  so  large  a 
part  of  the  timber  supply  of  the  country  and  the  stupendous  and  reckless 
waste  connected  with  it  have  raised  grave  fears  respecting  a  future  supply, 
and  led  to  local  as  well  as  national  efforts  for  conservation. 

{6)  "  Twenty  thousand  of  the  thirty  thousand  lumberjacks  and  river- 
pigs  of  the  Minnesota  woods  are  hilariously  in  pursuit  of  their  own  ruin 
for  lack  of  something  better  to  do  in  town.  They  are  not  nice,  enlightened 
men,  of  course;  the  debauch  is  the  traditional  diversion — the  theme  of 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  32  91 

all  the  brave  tales  to  which  the  youngsters  of  the  bunk-houses  listen  in 
the  lantern-light  and  dwell  upon  after  dark.  The  lumberjacks  proceed 
thus — being  fellows  of  big  strength  in  every  physical  way — to  the  uttermost 
of  filth  and  savagery  and  fellowship  with  every  abomination.  It  is  done 
with  shouting  and  laughter  and  that  large  good  humor  which  is  bedfellow 
with  the  bloodiest  brawling,  and  it  has  for  a  bit,  no  doubt,  its  amiable 
aspect ;  but  the  merry  shouters  are  presently  become  like  Jimmie  the  Beast, 
that  low,  notorious  brute,  who,  emerging  drunk  and  hungry  from  a  Deer 
River  saloon,  robbed  a  bulldog  of  his  bone  and  gnawed  it  himself — or 
like  Damned  Soul  Jenkins,  who  goes  moaning  into  the  forest,  after  the 
spree  in  town,  conceiving  himself  condemned  to  roast  forever  in  hell, 
without  hope,  nor  even  the  ease  which  his  mother's  prayers  might  win 
from  a  compassionate  God. 

"  They  can't  help  themselves,  it  seems.  Not  all  of  them,  of  course; 
but  most."     Duncan:  Higgins — A  Man's  Christian,  pp.  1-3. 

(7)  "  These  villages  and  camps  ought  to  have  good  libraries,  a  hall 
well  lighted,  innocent  amusements,  lectures,  entertainments,  and  in  ad- 
dition to  this,  an  army  of  men  carrying  good  books  and  visiting  all  the 
camps;  and  there  is  nothing  to  hinder  but  the  lack  of  money,  and  the  lack 
of  will  to  use  it  in  those  who  have  abundance,  I  have  lately  passed  through 
a  lumber  town  of  seven  thousand  inhabitants.  Four  or  five  millionaires 
lived  there.  One  had  put  up  an  $80,000  training-school,  another  a  memo- 
rial building  costing  _  $160,000.  This  is  the  other  extreme.  But  up  to 
date  the  lumber  regions  have  been  shamefully  neglected,  and  thousands 
of  boys  and  girls  are  growing  up  to  drift  to  our  great  cities  and  form  the 
dangerous  classes,  fitted  for  it  by  their  training.  It  is  better  to  clear  the 
water  sheds  than  to  buy  filters,  and  the  cheapest  policeman  of  the  city 
is  the  missionary  in  the  waste  places  of  our  land." — Puddefoot:  Minute- 
man  on  the  Frontier,  pp.  253,  254. 

(8)  The  preaching  in  the  lumber  camps  is  searching  and  eloquent, 
exactly  suited  to  the  situation.  There  is  no  cant  in  it,  and  none  of  the 
usual  evangeHstic  appeal.  It  is  orthodox,  significant,  reasonable,  replete 
with  tender  wisdom  and  sometimes  terrible  with  naked  truth.  The 
language  is  that  of  the  woods,  but  while  without  the  least  affectation  of 
slang,  would  not  always  bear  repeating  before  a  polite  congregation.  A 
couple  of  brief  samples  of  the  "  Sky-Pilot's  "  preaching  will  show  the  tender 
and  yet  fearless  way  in  which  he  talks  to  his  congregations. 

"  *  And  what  did  the  young  man  do?'  he  asked,  concerning  the  Prodigal. 
*  Why,  he  packed  his  turkey  and  went  off  to  blow  his  stake— just  like  you!' 
Afterward,  when  the  poor  Prodigal  was  penniless:  '  What  about  him  then, 
boys?  You  know.  I  don't  need  to  tell  you.  You  learned  all  about  it  at 
Deer  River.  It  was  the  husks  and  the  hogs  for  him — just  like  it  is  for 
you!  It's  up  the  river  for  you — and  it's  back  to  the  woods  for  you — when 
they've  cleaned  you  out  at  Deer  River!'  Once  he  said,  in  a  great  passion 
of  pity:  '  Boys,  you're  out  here,  floundering  to  your  waists,  picking  dia- 
monds from  the  snow  of  these  forests,  to  glitter,  not  in  pure  places,  but 
on  the  necks  of  the  saloon-keepers'  wives  in  Deer  River!'     There  is  applause 

when  the  Pilot  strikes  home.     *  That's true !'  they  shout.     And  there  is 

many  a  tear  shed  (as  I  saw)  by  the  young  men  in  the  shadows  when, 
having  spoken  long  and  graciously  of  home,  he  af?ks;  *  When  did  you  write 


92  The  Bible  Study    Union  Lessons 

to  your  mother  last?  You,  back  there — and  you!  Ah,  boj^s,  don't  forget 
her!' 

".There  was  pause  while  the  preacher  leaned  earnestly  over  the  blank- 
eted barrel. 

"  '  Write  home  to-night,'  he  besought  them.  '  She's — waiting — for — 
that— letter!' 

"  '  Boys,'  said  he,  in  a  bunk-house  denimciation,  '  that  tin-horn  gambler, 
Jim  Leach,  is  back  in  Deer  River  from  the  West  with  a  crooked  game — 
just  laying  for  you.  I  watched  his  game,  boys,  and  I  know  what  I'm 
talking  about;  and  you  hiow  I  know!'  Proceeding:  '  You  know  that  saloon 
keeper,  Tom  Jenkins?  Of  course  you  do!  Well,  boys,  the  wife  of  Tom  Jenkins 
nodded  toward  the  camps  the  other  day,  and,  "  Pshaw!"  says  she;  "  what  do 
I  care  about  expense?  My  husband  has  a  thousand  men  working  for  him 
in  the  woods!"  She  meant  yoii,  boys!  A  thousand  of  you — think  of  it! — 
working  for  the  wife  of  a  brute  like  Tom  Jenkins.'  Again:  *  Boys,  I'm  just 
out  from  Deer  River.  I  met  ol'  Bill  Morgan  yesterday,  "  Hello,  Bill!" 
says  I;  "  how's  business?"  "  Slow,  Pilot,"  says  he;  "  but  I  ain't  worryin' 
none — it'll  pick  up  when  the  boys  come  in  with  their  stake  in  the  spring." 
There  you  have  it!  That's  what  you'll  be  up  against,  boys,  God  help  you! 
when  you  go  in  with  your  stake — a  gang  of  filthy  thieves  like  Jim  Leach 
and  Tom  Jenkins  and  Bill  Morgan!'  " 

{9)  The  missionary's  chief  reward  is  in  the  love  and  unconventional 
piety  of  the  rough  men  to  whom  he  ministers.  *  It  is  related  of  Higgins 
that  he  was  once  taken  sick  in  the  woods  after  months  of  bitter  toil  and 
exposure.  He  was  miles  away  from  any  camp  in  a  heavy  snowstorm  with 
the  temperature  far  below  zero.  He  managed  to  struggle  on  with  a  pack 
on  his  back.  The  lumberjacks  of  the  camp  where  he  was  to  preach  that 
evening,  as  he  did  not  appear,  set  out  to  himt  for  him.  They  "  found  him 
at  last,  lying  in  the  snow  near  the  cook-house;  and  they  carried  him  to 
the  bunk-house,  and  put  him  to  bed,  and  consulted  •  concerning  him. 
*  The  Pilot's  an  almighty  sick  man,'  said  one.  Another  prescribed:  '  Got 
any  whiskey  in  camp?'  There  was  no  whiskey — there  was  no  doctor  within 
reach — there  was  no  medicine  of  any  sort.  And  the  Pilot,  whom  they  had 
taken  from  the  snow,  was  a  very  sick  man.  They  wondered  what  could 
be  done  for  him.  It  seemed  that  nobody  knew.  There  was  nothing  to 
be  done — nothing  but  keep  him  covered  up  and  warm. 

"  '  Boys,'  a  lumberjack  proposed,  *  how's  this  for  an  idea?' 

"  They  listened. 

"  '  We  can  pray  for  the  man,'  said  he,  '  who's  always  praying  for  us.* 

"  They  managed  to  do  it  somehow;  and  when  Higgins  heard  that  the 
boys  were  praying  for  him — praying  for  him! — he  turned  his  face  to  the 
wall,  and  covered  up  his  head,  and  wept  like  a  fevered  boy." 

The  Questions  for  Class  Discussion.  What  are  the  prospects  of  mission- 
ary work  being  long  needed  in  lumber  camps  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
present  rate  of  cutting  is  three  times  that  annual  growth  of  forests  in  the 
United  States? 

"  We  have  for  a  few  years  heard  the  cry  that  it  would  be  but  a  short 
time  before  the  manufacturing  of  lumber  would  cease  because  of  lack  of 
supply;  that  our  forests  were  fast  becoming  depleted  and  would  soon  be 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  SS  93 ' 

destroyed,  and  since  the  introduction  of  the  pulp  business,  in  which  spruce 
of  smaller  size  is  used  in  large  quantities,  the  prophets  have  often  foretold 
a  complete  abandonment  of  our  forests  in  a  few  years. 

"  It  may  be  that  human  ingenuity,  stimulated  by  the  increasing  demands 
and  decreasing  supply,  may  be  able  to  discover  or  invent  some  material 
which  will  take  the  place  of  lumber  and  wood;  but  this  is  sufficiently  un- 
certain to  justify  our  retaining  as  vigilantly  as  possible  *  the  bird  in  the 
hand,'  and  lending  every  effort  which  will  aid  in  the  preservation  of  our 
forests  and  the  continuance  of  the  lumber  industry." — Davis:  The  New 
England  States,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  1243. 

If  the  people  are  to  have  lumber  and  wood  for  necessary  industrial 
purposes,  scientific  forestry  must  take  the  place  of  the  present  wasteful 
and  destructive  exploitation  of  the  native  forests.  When  this  is  done, 
forest  land  will  be  as  carefully  supervised  as  farming  land,  it  will  be  in- 
cluded within  the  bcunderies  of  civilization,  the  days  of  the  lumberjack 
will  be  numbered,  and  the  lumber  camp  will  be  a  thing  of  the  past. 

(2)  Does  the  fact  that  we  use  lumber  put  us  under  any  obligations  to  the 
lumberjacks? 

(3)  Did  the  missionary  who  ejected  the  disturber  show  a  Christian  spirit? 
These  questions  are  of  such  nature  as  to  be  answered  chiefly  from  the 

students'  own  point  of  view.  The  teacher  should  encourage  the  members 
of  the  class  to  give  free  expression  to  their  individual  opinions. 


Part  III.     THE  CHURCH  WORKING 

THROUGH  VARIOUS  ORGANS  AND 

AGENCIES. 

Lesson  33.    HOW   A   MODERN   MISSIONARY   SOCIETY 
IS  ADMINISTERED. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  show  how  a  missionary  society  is  organized, 
how  it  carries  on  its  work,  and  how  to  correct  misapprehensions  respecting 
the  cost  of  administration. 

PREPARING   THE   LESSON. 

Note  that  with  this  lesson  we  pass  from  the  work  of  the  church  on  its 
own  field  as  considered  in  Part  I,  and  from  a  study  of  new  movements 
and  methods  within  the  local  churches,  as  considered  in  Part  II,  to  a 
study  of  those  organs  and  agencies  wholly  outside  of  the  local  churches, 
but  through  which  they  co-operate  in  various  forms  of  religious  work 
which  individual  churches  cannot  undertake, 


94  The  Bible  Study   Union  Lessons 

No  volume,  so  far  as  the  writer  knows,  treats  specifically  the  problems 
of  missionary  administration.  Scattered  paragraphs  in  the  reports  of 
the  various  societies,  or  discussions  in  missionary  Hterature,  are  the  chief 
sources  of  information,  aside  from  a  study  of  the  reports  themselves. 

TEACHING  THE   LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  For  the  next  lesson  assign  to  some  member  of  the 
class  the  preparation  of  a  brief  sketch  of  the  efforts  made  to  evangeHze 
the  Indians. 

Another  member  of  the  class  might  be  asked  to  state  the  salient  features 
of  the  work  among  the  southern  freedmen. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  (1)  The  modem  missionary  enterprise 
has  two  sides,  the  distinctively  religious  which  is  cared  for  by  the  missionary 
face  to  face  with  his  work,  and  the  business  side  to  which  he  looks  for  his 
support.  Many  people  are  fairly  well  acquainted  with  the  mission  fields 
and  with  the  trials  and  triumphs  of  the  workers.  Very  few  have  more 
than  a  dim  idea  of  the  complicated  machinery  by  which  their  personal 
contribution  is  made  effective  for  the  maintenance  of  a  missionary  on  the 
other  side  of  the  earth.  An  explanation  of  at  least  the  elementary  features 
in  the  administration  of  a  modem  missionary  society  ought  therefore  to 
prove  not  only  interesting  to  aU  who  help  to  support  this  important  Chris- 
tian agency,  but  it  will  also  help  to  remove  some  crude  misconceptions 
that  often  stand  in  the  way  of  a  deeper  interest  and  larger  support. 

(3)  The  duties  assigned  to  the  Corresponding  Secretary  vary  somewhat 
in  the  different  societies.  These  duties,  as  defined  in  the  By-laws  of  the 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  give  some 
idea  of  his  responsibilities. 

"  The  Corresponding  Secretary  under  the  direction  of  the  Board  of 
Managers,  shall  have  charge  of  the  correspondence  of  the  Board  with  its 
missions  and  shall  be  exclusively  employed  in  promoting  its  general  inter- 
ests. He  shall  advocate  the  cause  of  foreign  missions  at  such  Annual 
Conferences  and  in  such  churches  and  conventions  as  his  judgment  may 
dictate  and  the  Board  approve.  He  shall  keep  a  vigilant  eye  upon  all 
the  affairs  of  the  Board  and  especially  upon  all  its  missions,  and  promptly 
convey  to  the  Bishops  in  charge  of  the  missions  respectively,  to  the  Board, 
or  to  the  standing  committees,  all  such  communications  from  and  all 
information  concerning  our  foreign  missions  as  the  circumstances  of  the 
case  may  require.  ...  He  shall  also  superintend  all  the  property  interests 
of  the  Board  exclusive  of  its  current  receipts,  permanent  or  special  funds 
and  fixed  property,  subject  to  instmctions  from  the  Board  of  Managers." — 
Report  of  the  Board  for  1910,  p.  534. 

{6)  The  success  of  the  Apportionment  Plan  among  the  Congregational 
churches  is  indicated  by  the  following  statement  in  the  *  *  Report  of  the 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  for  1911,"  p.  19: 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  33  96 

"In  an  official  way  we  must  give  credit  to  the  Apportionment  Plan. 
A  close  study  of  the  figures  reveals  that  the  strongest  portion  of  the  battle 
line  has  been  in  those  columns  headed  '  Gifts  from  Churches  and  Individ- 
uals '  An  increase  of  $41,000  from  those  sources  and  from  the  young 
people  added  to  an  increase  of  $22,500  from  the  same  sources  in  the  Cen- 
tennial year  is  worthy  of  more  than  passing  remark.  Surely  our  denomi- 
national Hfe  is  expressing  itself  in  the  deeper  consciousness  of  power  and  of 
loyalty  when  our  churches  in  two  years  have  thus  poured  out  $63,500  more 
than  they  deemed  possible  before  their  interest  was  stirred  by  the  Appor- 
tionment Plan.  To  each  his  task,  to  each  his  share  and  no  more  than  his 
share,  and  full  credit  when  that  share  has  been  accomphshed:  These  are 
the  principles  which  appeal  to  the  minds  of  men  as  just  and  effective. 
Hundreds  of  churches  that  before  were  silent  are  now  contributing  their 
quota,  and  all  because  of  the  new  spirit  of  team  play  that  is  animating 
our  churches."  ,         ,  .  .     . 

{9,  10)  "We  do  not  send  money  to  the  heathen,  but  we  do  send  the 
Gospel.  All  money  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the  Foreign  Mission  Society 
is  expended  for  this  work.  For  the  convenience  of  reckoning  an  arbitrary 
division  between  home  and  foreign  expenditure  is  made.  Yet  the  travel 
of  a  missionary  to  the  field  or  on  the  field  is  no  more  foreign  mission  service 
than  is  his  homeward  journey  for  furlough  or  his  travel  among  the  churches 

"  isTot  a  cent  of  money  goes  to  the  heathen.  Business  is  not  conducted 
that  way.  But  the  gift  makes  possible  the  sending  of  men  and  the  Gospel 
to  these  non-Christian  lands.  It  costs  money  to  administer  any  enter- 
prise. Some  mission  boards  have  officials  and  administrators  serving 
without  salary,  and  others  own  their  office  buildings.  Still  others  maintain 
their  administrative  offices  on  the  field.  Because  of  these  things  it  is 
very  difficult  justly  to  compare  one  board  with  another.  Neither  is  it 
easy  clearly  to  draw  the  line  between  the  cost  of  work  and  the  cost  of 
administration.  Yet  it  is  found  that  when  percentages  are  considered, 
the  larger  the  income  the  more  economically  it  can  be  administered.      _   _ 

"  What  is  commonly  termed  home  expense  includes  foreign  adminis- 
tration, home  administration,  dissemination  of  information,  work  of  in- 
spiration and  collection  of  funds.  Yet  a  large  amount  of  administrative 
work  is  conducted  on  the  field  itself  by  committees  as  well  as  by  individual 
missionaries.  In  fact,  the  work  of  the  missionary  is  becoming  more  and 
more  an  administrative  one,  in  the  directing  of  native  agents  and  mthe 
general  planning  and  conduct  of  the  work.  If  these  facts  are  kept  m  mmd, 
the  problem  will  be  much  simplified.  It  is  not  money  which  is  sent  to 
the  heathen,  but  the  Gospel.  It  should  not  concern  us  whether  the  money 
is  spent  in  Rangoon,  Shanghai  or  Boston  so  long  as  the  Gospel  reaches  the 
fields  and  accomplishes  its  work.  The  only  question  worthy  of  our  thought 
is  that  of  efficiency:'— Handbook  of  the  American  Baptist  Foreign  Mission 
Society,  1913,  pp.  59,  60. 

The  Question  for  Discussion.  The  first  may  be  discussed  in  the  light 
of  what  is  said  in  Note  3  in  the  pupils'  quarterly;  the  second,  in  the  light 
of  the  statements  made  in  Note  4, 


96  The  Bible  Study    Union  Lessons 

Lesson  34.    HOW  CHURCHES  ADVANCE  WITH  THE 
FRONTIER. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  inspire  an  intelligent  interest  in  the  work  of 
American  Home  Mission  Societies. 

PREPARING   THE   LESSON. 

The  most  helpful  book  on  the  topic  treated  in  this  lesson  is  Clark's 
Leavening  the  Nation.  Morris'  volume,  At  Our  Own  Door,  is  a  sketch  of 
Presbyterian  Home  Missions.  Baptist  Home  Missions  by  Morehouse 
gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  work  done  by  the  Baptist  Society. 
Periodical  literature  on  this  subject  issued  by  the  several  denominations 
is  widely  circulated  and  should  be  within  easy  reach  of  every  teacher. 
The  purpose  of  the  lesson  is  not  so  much  to  dwell  on  details  as  to  show  the 
conditions  that  have  given  rise,  direction,  and  method  to  the  home  mission 
cause.  Hence  teachers  should  select  facts  that  bear  on  this  broad  aspect 
of  the  subject. 

TEACHING   THE   LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  Ask  some  member  of  the  class  to  give  a  brief  list 
of  the  leading  colleges  or  universities  controlled  by  the  denomination  to 
which  the  church  belongs  of  which  the  class  forms  a  part.  State  also  the 
number  of  students  in  each  and  such  financial  facts  as  may  be  at  hand. 
Consult  the  denominational  year-book,  or  the  Almanacs  published  by  the 
New  York  World  or  the  New  York  Tribune. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {1,  2)  "Twice  did  Rome  under  the 
Spanish  and  French  occupations  overrun  and  possess  the  New  World,  to 
all  appearances  hopelessly  dooming  the  broad  West  to  the  stifling  influences 
of  a  bigoted  ecclesiasticism.  Strangely,  and  as  suddenly  as  from  a  para- 
lyzed hand,  this  huge  domain  slipped  from  her  grasp.  This  repeated  sweep 
and  collapse  of  the  papal  propaganda,  followed  by  the  dissemination 
throughout  this  wide  area  of  the  ideas  and  institutions  of  the  Protestant 
colonies  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard — colonies  that  had  been  founded,  without 
exception,  on  religious  principles  and  from  avowed  missionary  motives — 
must  ever  appear  one  of  the  most  remarkable  overrulings  of  history. 
Makers  of  commonwealths  never  had  nobler  missionary  ancestry  than  the 
Pilgrims  of  the  Mayflower,  their  Puritan  brothers,  and  the  Huguenots  of 
the  settlements  in  the  South.  Safeguarded  by  ocean  barriers  from  undue 
Old  World  interference,  fused  into  a  nationality  by  revolutionary  struggles, 
tempered  by  the  heat  of  great  revival  fires,  the  sturdy  descendants  of 
these  colonists  at  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  set  themselves 
to  the  building  of  the  world's  greatest  Christian  republic."— i^ecew^ 
Christian  Progress,  pp.  501,  502. 

(5)  "No  event  in  our  national  history  has  exerted  a  greater  influence 
on  the  destiny  of  the  country'  than  the  famous  "  Ordinance  of  1787." 
Embracing  the  states  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Wisconsin  and  Illinois, 
a  section  of  250,000  square  miles,  wedge-shaped,  and  from  that  fact  known 
»s  *  The  kevstone  of  the  American  commonwealth,'  was  added  to  the 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  34  97 

territory  of  the  United  States;  and  from  that  moment  '  expansion  '  began. 
Its  influence  on  our  national  life  was  not  more  potent  than  on  the  church. 
It  was  a  new  birth  of  the  home  missionary  enterprise  of  the  church,  calling 
for  '  expansion  '  of  the  spiritual  kingdom  to  keep  pace  with  the  march  of 
empire.  Population  poured  in  to  possess  this  marv^elously  ricli  land. 
Home  missionaries  entered  to  win  new  territory  for  Christ  and  the  church." 
— Morris:  At  Our  Oiun  Door,  pp.  1G5,  166. 

{6)  "  The  Christian  conquest  of  a  continent,  within  the  lifetime  of  many 
of  its  citizens,  is  the  unparalleled  achievement  of  American  Home  Missions. 
History  has  no  other  record  of  the  lifting  of  an  infant  nation  to  the  position 
of  the  world's  foremost  force  for  righteousness  and  peace  within  the  brief 
span  of  a  human  life.  So  quietly  has  this  work  loomed  up  amid  the 
century's  crush  and  clatter,  that  many  have  lived  in  unconsciousness  of 
its  grandeur  and  of  its  relation  to  our  national  welfare,  until,  like  some 
cloud-covered  mountain,  it  has  been  disclosed  by  the  parting  of  the  mists 
and  smoke  that  have  shrouded  it — the  most  massive  and  majestic  object 
on  our  horizon.  Never  before  in  so  short  a  time  over  so  large  an  area 
were  such  tremendous  issues  fought  out  by  the  moral  and  religious  forces 
of  any  nation.  .  .  .  Out  of  vast  social  upheavals  and  national  disorders, 
intricate,  puzzling,  paSvSionate,  Home  Missions  emerged  holding  aloft 
the  Cross,  bringing  order  out  of  chaos,  and  determining  the  place  of  lead- 
ership and  power  the  American  people  have  been  called  to  take  in  world- 
wide movements  for  democracy  and  evangelization." — Recent  Christian 
Progress,  p.  501. 

(7)  "  In  the  midst  of  a  civilization  whose  every  breath  draws  in  a  Chris- 
tian atmosphere,  it  is  as  hard  to  picture  a  Christless  development  as  it  is 
for  a  well-fed  man  to  imagine  himself  starving  to  death.  But  let  us  try 
to  get  a  vision  of  what  might  have  been.  Twenty-five  or  thirty  states 
given  over  to  the  lawless  men  and  practices  that  first  overran  them; 
thousands  of  communities,  godless,  vicious,  atheistic,  criminal,  without 
churches,  ministers.  Bibles,  Sabbaths;  rural  districts  cursed  by  brawls, 
feuds,  brutal  living,  and  filthy  speech ;  mining  and  lumber  camps  dominated 
by  the  saloon,  the  dive,  the  gambling  den,  and  the  six-shooter;  cities  such 
hells  of  social  and  civic  debauchery  that  their  only  hope  for  betterment 
lay  in  vigilance  committees  and  lynch-law — this  not  only  might  have 
been,  it  actually  was  in  hundreds  of  instances  just  what  occurred,  in  spite 
of  herculean  efforts  to  the  contrary.  Suppose  that  instead  of  the  exception 
it  had  been  the  rule,  a  condition  universal  and  unchecked!  " — Recent 
Christian  Progress,  p.  505. 

The  Question  for  Discussion.  Why  does  the  history  of  the  Spaniards, 
the  French,  and  the  English  in  North  America  indicate  a  providential 
guidance? 

"  History  is  a  word  of  many  definitions,  but  in  the  last  analysis  it  can 
have  but  one  meaning.  All  history  is  the  unfolding  of  a  divine  plan  looking 
toward  the  recovery  of  humanity,  and  a  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth. 
Either  we  must  accept  this  or  surrender  our  faith  in  '  Some  power  outside 
ourselves  that  makes  for  righteousness.'  With  this  for  a  master-key, 
the  study  of  history  becomes  the  most  fascinating  of  all  pursuits.  To  the 
reverent  student  it  is  more;  it  is  communion  with  the  very  thoughts  of 
God.  .  .  . 

"  In  the  light  of  events  no  reasoning  mind  can  doubt  that  the  western 


98  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

hemisphere,  particularly  North  America,  was  predestined,  concealed, 
discovered,  and  reserved,  to  become  the  seat  of  a  Protestant  Christian 
nation.  The  three  frail  ships  of  Columbus  were  headed  towards  the  middle 
Atlantic  coast,  and  in  a  few  days  would  have  touched  that  shore,  when  a 
flock  of  pigeons,  flying  over  the  masts  in  a  southwesterly  direction,  led  th^ 
navigator  to  change  his  course  towards  the  Caribbean  Sea.  But  for  that 
shifting  of  the  helm,  the  Atlantic  States  might  be  occupied  today  by  the 
descendants  of  Spanish  Catholics.  .  .  . 

"  With  all  its  unwinnowed  chaff,  was  there  ever  in  history  such  a  sifting 
of  precious  seed  for  the  planting  of  a  nation! — Pilgrims  and  Puritans, 
Moravians  and  Huguenots,  Covenanters  and  Churchmen,  Presbyterians 
and  Baptists,  Lutherans  and  Quakers,  displaying  many  banners,  but  on 
them  all  the  One  Name:  seeking  many  goods,  but  holding  one  good  supreme 
— freedom  to  worship  God,  as  the  Spirit  taught  and  as  conscience  inter- 
preted. Such  were  our  prehistoric  missionaries.  Is  it  presumption  to 
claim  that,  by  the  will  of  God,  they  were  begotten  and  born,  they  were 
schooled  and  hardened,  they  were  chosen,  guided  and  led,  they  were  ruled 
and  overruled,  to  be  the  fathers  and  founders  of  the  true  America?" — 
Clark:  Leavening  the  Nation,  pp.  11,  12,  18. 


Lesson  35.    CHURCH  SCHOOLS. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  note  the  religious  work  done  in  the  higher 
denominational  institutions  of  learning,  and  to  show  their  influence  on 
the  religious  life  of  the  nation. 

PREPARING   THE  LESSON. 

Literature  dealing  with  the  subject  of  the  lesson  is  not  easily  accessible. 
Articles  in  newspapers  and  periodicals,  and  addresses  on  the  value  of 
denominational  schools,  are  frequent  enough,  but  so  scattered  as  to  be 
not  easily  found  when  wanted.  The  pubHcations  of  the  Religious  Educa- 
tion Association  contain  a  number  of  articles  that  deal  with  the  problem 
of  education  in  colleges  and  universities,  but  they  seldom  touch  very 
closely  the  specific  work  of  the  church  schools. 

The  question  for  discussion  is  quite  important  and  should  arouse  con- 
siderable interest,  especially  if  there  happens  to  be  college  men  in  the 
class.  The  teacher  should  note  carefully  the  statements  under  the  ques- 
tion, and  supplement  those  in  favor  of  the  older  method  by  the  fact  that 
when  catechetical  instruction,  or  a  course  in  Christian  doctrine,  was 
conducted  by  a  member  of  the  faculty,  the  students  were  likely  to  go  out 
into  the  world  with  a  clearer  reason  for  the  faith  that  was  in  them  than 
is  the  case  now.  Consider,  furthermore,  whether  the  teaching  of  Bible 
classes  by  students  who  themselves  have  Httle  more  than  an  elementary 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  35  99 

knowledge  of  Christian  truth  and  only  a  limited  religious  experience,  is 
likely  to  be  as  helpful  as  when  conducted  by  men  with  ample  preparation. 
In  no  other  department  are  students  set  to  teaching  students.  In  every 
other  line  of  study  the  instruction  is  committed  to  experts. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 
The  Assignments.  The  next  lesson  will  consider  the  Religious  period- 
icals, of  which  several  must  be  taken  among  the  families  connected  with 
your  church.  Some  member  of  the  class  might  be  asked  to  make  a  collec- 
tion of  as  many  as  he  can  find  in  the  community,  denominational  and  un- 
denominational, Protestant  and  Catholic,  and  bring  them  into  the  class 
for  comparative  study. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  (S)  "  It  may  not  be  generally  known  that 
our  State  universities  also  were  quite  largely  the  outcome  of  missionary 
statesmanship— the  gift  indirectly  of  religion  to  the  West,  as  the  public 
school  system  had  been  the  gift  of  the  New  England  Pilgrims  to  the  nation. 
The  first  State  university — the  model  for  many  a  later  one — was  planned 
and  shaped  by  home  missionaries  of  Michigan,  and  many  another  owes  its 
origin,  or  its  development  for  important  periods  of  its  life,  to  similar 
causes.  All  certainly  owe  their  high  moral  standards  to  the  religious 
influences  carefully  fostered  by  missionary  devotion  in  their  respective 
States.  From  home  missionary  ranks  in  some  instances  were  drawn  the 
presidents  of  these  institutions,  and  the  superintendents  of  public  instruc- 
tion in  their  commonwealths." — Recent  Christian  Progress,  p.  506. 

(Ji)  As  an  illustration  of  the  care  bestowed  on  the  religious  training  of 
students  less  than  a  century  ago  in  one  New  England  college,  the  following 
quotation  may  be  interesting:  "  The  president  was  entitled  also  '  Professor 
of  Divinity.'  One  of  its  six  departments  was  that  of  '  Practical  Theology 
and  Personal  Religion.'  Lectures  on  Theology  were  given  each  term. 
Freshmen  had  a  Bible  exercise  every  week  in  the  Historical  Books  of  the 
Old  Testament;  Sophomores,  in  the  Prophetical  Books  and  Greek  Testa- 
ment; and  Juniors,  in  the  New  Testament  Doctrinal  Books,  while  Seniors 
studied  Paley's  Evidences  of  Christianity  and  Butler's  Analogy.  Paley's 
Natural  Theology  was  also  in  the  curriculum.  In  a  sister  college,  besides 
courses  similar  to  these,  a  course  in  Vincent's  Catechism  retained  its  place 
well  through  the  century." 

{6)  The  utterly  immeasurable  influences  for  good  exerted  by  the'denomi- 
nation  colleges  is  seen  in  a  computation  made  about  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago  that  thirteen  of  the  two  hundred  Western  colleges  founded  by  mission- 
ary pioneers  had  up  to  that  time  supplied  3000  towns  with  ministers  and 
15,000  towns  with  30,000  teachers.  One  may  well  ask,  what  had  the 
entire  two  hundred  accomplished?  and  still  further,  what  have  they 
accomplished  down  to  the  present  time? 

(7)  There  has  been  much  rejoicing  that  the  Bible  after  having  been  for 
a  while  banished  from  the  curriculum  of  even  denominational  colleges  is 
again  finding  a  place  in  it.     Professors  of  Biblical  Literature  are  finding 


100  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

a  place  on  a  great  many  faculties,  and  courses  in  Old  and  New  Testament 
History,  and  in  the  literary  and  critical  study  of  the  Bible  are  offered 
quite  generally.  It  is  sometimes  questioned,  however,  whether  muoh 
more  religious  good  is  accomplished  by  such  study  than  by  mathematics 
or  chemistry.  "  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  point  of  view  is  radically  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  the  early  time.  .  .  It  certainly  would  be  deplorable 
were  it  not  supplemented  by  devotional  study  in  the  Christian  Association." 
— Recent  Christian  Progress,  p.  438. 

The  Question  for  Discussion.  Has  the  transfer  of  religious  leadership 
from  faculty  to  student  been  a  gain  or  a  loss? 

"  No  one  can  help  regretting  the  loss  of  interest  on  the  part  of  professors 
in  the  character  of  their  students,  and  the  remoteness  from  contact  with 
them  now  so  common  in  our  larger  institutions.  Equally  deplorable  is 
any  loss  of  moral  leadership  on  their  part.  On  any  theory  of  education, 
the  value  of  Christian  character  in  a  professor  is  great.  No  enthusiasms 
are  more  fundamental  or  more  worthy  to  be  inspired  by  word  or  example 
than  those  of  religion.  .  .  . 

"  But  if  there  have  been  some  losses,  there  are  ampler  gains.  There 
has  been  a  gain  in  manliness  and  self-control  on  the  part  of  the  students. 
There  has  been  a  gain  in  morality.  The  consensus  of  opinion,  in  spite  of 
some  lurid  statements  to  the  contrary,  is  that  there  has  been  an  elevation 
of  moral  tone  in  the  student-body.  There  is  surely  more  genuine  interest 
in  Bible  study  than  ever.  There  is  a  profounder  recognition  of  the  value 
of  religion  for  all  the  activities  of  life.  Christian  work  is  undertaken  more 
generally  under  student  leadership,  and  the  gain  in  power  by  leaders  and 
workers  is  beyond  computation.  The  present  organization  of  Christian 
activities  in  college  under  the  Christian  Association  can  excite  only  the 
admiration  of  every  thoughtful  observer.  If  there  is  occasionally  crude- 
ness,  there  is  more  often  genuineness.  If  there  is  sometimes  unwisdom, 
there  is  usually  thorough  earnestness.  If  there  is  less  definiteness  of 
creedal  belief,  there  is  more  breadth  of  love  and  more  real  unity  of  the 
spirit." — Recent  Christian  Progress,  pp.  438,  439. 


Lesson  36.     THE  RELIGIOUS  PRESS. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  show  the  need  of,  and  to  create  an  interest 
in,  religious  periodicals. 

PREPARING   THE   LESSON. 

The  teacher  will  find  in  the  lesson  notes  and  in  the  added  material 
below  as  much  material  as  can  be  handled  in  the  class  session.  A  practical 
turn  can  easily  be  given,  if  the  suggestion  made  in  the  assignment  in  Lesson 
35  is  followed  out.  The  teacher,  however,  would  do  well  to  be  prepared 
for  a  discussion  of  the  comparative  merits  of  the  several  periodicals  brought 
into  the  class,  by  a  personal  survey  of  them,  so  as  to  be  able  to  point  the 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  S6  101 

strong  points  and  the  weak.  This  survey  should  include  the  character 
of  the  editorials  and  comments  on  current  events,  the  value  of  the  con- 
tributed articles,  the  importance  or  triviality  of  the  news,  the  amount  and 
character  of  the  advertising,  the  attractiveness  of  the  illustrations,  the 
general  make-up  of  each  paper,  and,  finally,  the  extent  to  which  it  lives 
up  to  one  of  the  fundamental  rules  of  journalism,  "  Thou  shalt  not  be  dull." 

TEACHING  THE   LESSON. 

The  Assignment.  Ask  a  member  of  the  class  to  prepare  a  brief  sketch 
of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in  your  immediate  neighborhood. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {2,  3)  "  The  rehgious  journal  is  the 
product  of  the  interest  of  a  particular  group  in  the  religious  life.  It  is 
one  of  the  earliest  forms  of  group  journalism,  and  is  the  predecessor  of 
the  trade  journals  and  other  publications  devoted  to  specialized  interests. 
At  first  it  was  hardly  more  than  a  personal  message  from  a  religious  leader 
to  his  friends  and  followers.  Small  in  size  and  limited  in  scope,  it  doubtless 
attempted  to  perform  for  the  modern  age  what  the  apostolic  letters  did 
for  the  primitive  churches.  The  editor  was  the  oracle  who  spoke  to  his 
religious  constituency,  giving  instruction,  encouragement  and  warning 
to  the  churches  of  his  particular  faith  and  order. 

"  As  this  form  of  public  statement  developed  through  growing  appre- 
ciation of  its  value  and  increasing  ability  and  experience  on  the  part  of 
editors,  there  were  gradually  added  the  pages  devoted  to  more  or  less 
general  expression  of  the  group  interests,  communications  and  contribu- 
tions. Departments  were  added  and,  perhaps  last  of  all,  in  the  formal 
development  of  the  religious  journal,  denominational  news  was  made  a 
distinctive  feature.  But  fundamentally,  through  all  this  evolution,  the 
original  idea  has  not  been  forgotten,  that  the  denominational  paper  is  to 
act  as  the  unifying  and  inspiring  organ  of  the  particular  group  with  which 
the  editor  or  promoter  is  connected." — Willett  in  Religious  Education, 
October,  1910,  p.  355. 

{6)  "  Is  it  true  that  religious  journalism  in  this  country  is  in  a  bad  way? 
There  have  been  news  items  in  the  dailies  lately  which  have  given  the 
impression  that  the  old-fashioned  religious  weekly  is  losing  money,  that 
it  is  being  driven  to  the  wall  by  the  competition  of  semi-religious  and 
secular  publications,  and  that  it  has  lost  to  a  considerable  degree  its  hold 
upon  the  church  membership  of  the  country. 

"  Events  occur  from  time  to  time  which  show  that  there  is  some  founda- 
tion for  these  claims.  Papers  once  prosperous  and  powerful  disappear. 
Usually  they  are  merged  with  other  publications.  Journals  once  avowedly 
religious,  not  to  say  denominational,  slowly  and  cautiously  change  their 
character;  they  become  '  interpreters  of  current  events,'  treating  the  world's 
news  from  the  point  of  view  of  '  the  progress  of  the  kingdom  '  and  featuring 
many  events  that  would  get  scant  attention  from  the  secular  press. 

"  Pile  a  big  bunch  of  these  religious  weeklies  on  your  desk  and  look 
through  them  and  the  conclusion  will  be  forced  upon  you  that  there  are  a 
considerable  number  of  them  that  are  having  a  rather  stem  struggle  for 
existence.  But  upon  the  other  hand  you  will  be  obliged  to  conclude  that 
some  of  them  are  among  the  handsomest,  best  printed  and  most  attractively 
illustrated  papers  that  you  find  anywhere. 


102  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

"  But  there  are  many  of  the  others,  not  by  any  means  all  of  them,  which 
have  a  rather  decrepit  look.  The  advertisements  do  not  seem  to  imply  a 
sufficient  income  to  provide  funds  for  the  printing  of  a  first-class  paper. 
The  subscription  lists  in  some  cases  are  known  to  be  getting  shorter  rather 
than  longer.  In  a  few  instances  some  criticism  might  be  made  of  the 
kind  of  advertisements  which  are  *  run.'  Many  of  these  papers  are  in- 
tended to  be  organs  of  the  respective  denominations  and  their  appeal 
would  seem  to  the  outside  observer  to  be  decidedly  limited." — Boston 
Herald,  September  1,   1912. 

(7)  "  Talk  over  the  status  of  religious  journalism  today  with  an  editor 
and  he  will  reply  in  some  such  terms  as  these : 

"  '  The  religious  journal  seems  to  be  essential  to  the  perpetuity  of  re- 
ligion. Religion  is  embodied  in  institutions.  It  must  have  its  representa- 
tive organizations  and  spokesmen  for  the  expression  and  promotion  of 
religious  sentiment. 

"'  If  it  is  true  that  the  religious  journals  are  having  a  hard  time  of  it, 
the  fact  is  to  be  traced  to  the  same  causes  precisely  which  make  all  forms 
of  church  work  hard.  The  churches,  the  theological  seminaries,  the  mis- 
sionary institutions,  are  all  tied  up  in  one  situation, 

"  '  There  is  lots  of  religion  in  the  world  these  days,  far  more  than  the 
outsiders,  so  called,  realize.  But  there  is  dislike  of  a  religious  tag.  There 
is  a  pulling  away  from  institutional  religion  in  any  form. 

"  '  Now  the  question  of  course  is,  can  the  church  continue  without  its 
own  particular  organs?  To  be  sure  the  publishing  of  religious  periodicals 
can  be  overdone,  just  as  the  building  of  churches  of  various  denominations 
in  small  towns  in  some  parts  of  the  country  has  been  overdone. 

"  '  But  it  is  to  be  noted  that  in  many  instances  the  religious  journals  are 
ahead  of  their  churches.  In  such  matters  as  the  movement  for  Christian 
unity,  in  the  discussion  of  social  problems  and  the  advocacy  of  remedies, 
even  in  theological  thought,  the  editors  and  their  papers  often  will  be 
found  to  be  leading  rather  than  merely  reflecting  the  sentiments  of  their 
respective  denominational  bodies. 

"  *  Now  the  great  problem  of  the  religious  paper  is  to  adapt  itself  to 
the  present  situation  and  at  the  same  time  not  to  lose  its  religious  character. 
There  is  abundant  evidence  that  multitudes  of  people  want  religious 
news,  and  they  want  it  in  accurate  form,  printed  without  luridity  or 
sensationalism.'  " — Boston  Herald,  September  1,  1912. 

{8)  "  Every  newspaper  man  understands  that,  whether  his  paper  be 
independent  in  politics  or  partisan,  there  is  one  subject  that  must  be  handled 
gingerly — religion.  For  when  you  say  '  religion,'  the  next  question  is 
'  which?'  A  daily  paper  cannot  be  specifically  Catholic  or  Protestant, 
Presbyterian  or  Unitarian.  It  should  be  understood,  therefore,  that  the 
opportunity  of  applying  Biblical  principles  to  modern  social  problems  is 
not  illimitable. 

"  When  we  consider  what  is  meant  by  '  Biblical  principles,'  we  are  met 
with  a  second  difficulty.  What  principles  are  Biblical?  The  daily  press 
might  well  ask  the  rcHgious  press  to  agree  on  a  few  Biblical  principles  as 
a  common  platform  before  asking  the  daily  press  to  apply  those  principles. 
Take  the  divorce  evil,  which  is  certainly  a  great  social  problem.  The 
daily  press  can  discuss  the  evil  in  a  general  way,  can  mention  the  broken 
homes,  the  parentless  children;  can  even  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  divorce 
and  marriage  are  often  progressive  polygamy.     But  what  is  the  Biblical 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  SO  103 

principle  which  the  press  is  asked  to  apply?  The  Protestant  church  says 
that  the  innocent  party  to  a  divorce  may  remarry,  and  that  the  guilty 
party  may  not;  the  law  of  the  State  generally  allows  either  party  to  remarry; 
while  CathoHc  interpreters  say  that  any  remarriage  is  unlawful,  unless  it 
be  by  the  rare  exception  of  a  special  dispensation.  Which  teaching  is  the 
Biblical  one?  The  denominational  paper  is  really  freer  in  denouncing  the 
evil  of  divorce;  the  law,  moreover,  protects  it  from  the  danger  of  a  Hbel 
suit  in  defending  the  principles  of  its  denomination.  But  the  daily  paper 
might  have  to  figure  in  the  courts  for  a  too  Biblical  interpretation  of  the 
action  of  the  court  that  granted  the  divorce  decree." — McKelway  in  Report 
for  1904  of  the  Religious  Education  Association,  p.  431. 

(9)  "  It  is  unmistakable  that  there  has  been  a  shrinkage  in  the  field  of 
religious  journalism;  but  the  loss  has  been  more  apparent  than  real.  There 
are  more  religious  papers  and  magazines  in  existence  today  than  thirty 
or  forty  years  ago;  only  not  so  many  all-round  religious  newspapers.  This 
is  the  day  of  the  specialist  rather  than  the  general  practitioner.  .  .  . 

"  Withal,  the  typical  religious  newspaper  and  magazine  of  today  are 
not  decadent  products.  Obliged  to  conform  to  changing  conditions  and 
to  adapt  themselves,  Hke  all  living  things,  to  the  fashion  of  the  time,  they 
still  remain  a  mighty  force  in  the  land.  If  the  religious  journal  is  less  dog- 
matic and  trenchant  than  aforetime,  it  is  quite  as  fair,  sane,  and  convincing. 
If  it  has  lost  somewhat  in  prestige  and  dominance  as  a  denominational 
organ,  it  has  gained  in  the  wider  influence  of  its  judgment  in  the  world 
at  large  and  in  the  more  varied  service  of  the  Kingdom  of  God." — Strong 
in  Recent  Christian  Progress,  p.  450. 

The  Question  for  Discussion.  Are  church  people  responsible  for  the 
slight  attention  given  to  religious  subjects  in  the  daily  press? 

To  a  considerable  extent  church  people  have  little  reason  to  complain 
of  the  scant  attention  given  to  religious  news  in  the  daily  press.  Usually 
they  get  aU  for  which  they  ask.  They  constitute  a  third  of  our  population, 
certainly  a  larger  part  than  the  baseball  enthusiasts,  and  probably  more 
than  a  third  of  the  clientage  of  the  higher  grade  of  newspapers.  And  yet 
a  baseball  game  will  get  half  a  page  throughout  the  season,  while  an  im- 
portant religious  convention  is  dismissed  in  a  paragraph. 

The  religious  editor  of  The  Philadelphia  Press  writing  respecting  this 
matter  says:  "  The  church  people  have  but  to  '  stand  up  straight  and 
speak  out  loud,'  as  our  teachers  in  the  reading-class  used  to  say,  to  effect 
a  revolution  in  the  press's  presentation  of  religious  subjects.  It  cannot 
be  too  strongly  urged  that  those  who  are  truly  interested  in  the  Kingdom 
should  write  to  newspaper  editors  upon  this  subject,  which  is  of  such  serious 
concern.  Frankly  and  sensibly  tell  them  what  is  desired.  Thank  them 
for  what  they  have  done,  and  when  they  have  done  more,  thank  them  yet 
again,  and  be  not  weary  in  this  well  doing.  If  this  church  member  is 
at  the  same  time  a  business  man  and  an  advertiser,  his  power  will  be  in- 
creased tenfold.  .  .  . 

"  Let  it  be  remembered  that  the  great  mass  of  people  who  represent  the 
churches  have  rights  which  they  are  justified  in  claiming.  ...  If  the 
churches  want  their  services  advertised,  let  them  go  to  the  business  office 
and  pay  for  them,  as  the  theater  and  every  other  business  enterprise 


104  The  Bible  Sttidy  Union  Lessons 

does.  Then,  holding  up  their  heads  in  self-respect,  let  the  adherents  of 
the  churches  ask  that  the  local  news  of  their  congregations,  and  the  wider 
news  of  the  great  Kingdom,  be  accorded  proper  notice  by  the  newspapers, 
and  that  those  subjects  which  from  week  to  week  especially  interest 
religious  people  shall  be  given  the  same  accurate  and  sympathetic  atten- 
tion that  is  bestowed  upon  the  drama,  fashions,  sports,  and  finance.  Show 
the  average  editor  that  this  is  the  desire  of  the  church-going  readers,  and 
he  will  gladly  and  promptly  comply  with  it.  He  has  no  interest  other 
than  to  serve  the  people." 


Lesson  37.    YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  acquaint  the  student  with  the  origin,  growth 
and  organization  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and  to  awaken 
an  interest  in  its  work. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

The  "  Life  of  Sir  George  Williams,"  who  died  only  a  few  years  ago,  gives 
an  extended  survey  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  movement 
from  its  inception  to  the  time  of  the  death  of  its  founder.  Teachers  will 
find  all  the  magazine  articles  referred  to  in  the  pupils'  lesson  helpful  in 
one  way  or  another.  That  by  Frank  Hunter  Potter  in  the  Outlook  for 
July  13,  1912,  is  especially  valuable  for  showing  the  economic  value  of 
the  organization  in  improving  the  physical,  mental,  social  and  spiritual 
welfare  of  wage  earners,  and  thereby  so  increasing  their  efficiency  as  to 
make  them  more  valuable  to  their  employers  and  correspondingly  increas- 
ing their  own  earning  capacity.  If  there  is  a  good  working  Association 
near  by  that  can  be  personally  studied  by  the  teacher,  this  will  be  a 
great  help  in  preparing  to  teach  the  lesson  effectively. 

TEACHING   THE   LESSON. 

The  Assignment.  The  next  lesson  takes  up  a  closely  related  subject, 
namely  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association.  Assign  to  some 
member  of  the  class  the  preparation  of  a  brief  statement  why  Associa- 
tions among  girls  and  young  women  do  not  seem  on  the  whole  to  be  as 
popular  and  successful  as  among  boys  and  young  men. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  (1)  "  The  year  1851  is  important  as 
marking  the  emergence  of  the  Association  into  the  arena  of  the  wider 
world.  In  that  year  the  first  '  World's  Fair  '  was  held  in  London,  drawing 
to  that  capital  strangers  from  all  parts  of  the  civilized  globe.  Among 
these  visitors,  as  well  as  among  the  young  men  of  the  United  Kingdom  in 
attendance,  352,000  tracts  were  distributed  containing  '  direct  and  affec- 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  37  105 

tionate  statements  of  the  Gospel,'  as  well  as  an  invitation,  which  was 
largely  accepted,  to  visit  the  rooms  of  the  Association.  Thus  was  the 
seed  of  the  Association  idea  sown  broadcast.  In  this  year,  likewise,  the 
Association  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  established  itself,  first  in  Montreal, 
then  in  Boston.  The  genesis  of  the  Boston  Association  was  a  letter, 
written  to  the  Watchman  and  Reflector  by  a  Columbia  post-graduate  student 
in  Edinburgh  University,  which  came  to  the  attention  of  Mr.  J.  V.  Sullivan, 
a  retired  sea  captain.  Through  his  efforts,  following  a  visit  to  the  Asso- 
ciation in  London,  the  Boston  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was 
founded,  having  for  its  object  '  the  improvement  of  the  spiritual  and  mental 
condition  of  young  men.'  An  evangelical  basis  of  membership  was  finally 
resolved  upon,  despite  the  prevalence  of  Unitarianism  and  Universalism 
in  Boston  at  that  time.  The  new  Association  grew  with  mushroomlike 
rapidity.  In  five  months  it  had  enrolled  twelve  hundred  members,  and 
in  eighteen  months,  in  1853,  it  was  housed  in  handsome  quarters  in  Tremont 
Temple,  which  it  occupied  for  many  years.  Already  in  that  year  the  Asso- 
ciation had  spread  to  twenty-two  American  cities,  and  had  reached  a  total 
of  two  hundred  and  thirty  societies  throughout  the  world.  On  June  7, 
1854,  at  '  the  first  convention  of  leaders  in  specific  work  for  young  men 
in  an  English-speaking  country  which  ever  assembled,'  convened  at 
Buffalo  and  attended  by  thirty-seven  delegates  from  nineteen  Associations 
in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  a  North  American  Confederation  was 
formed  for  mutual  encouragement,  co-operation,  and  usefulness." — 
Recent  Christian  Progress,  pp.  419,  420. 

(4)  "  Every  branch  of  the  Association  has  one  salaried  official,  thor- 
oughly trained  for  his  work,  upon  whom  the  success  of  the  branch  really 
depends.  There  is  practically  nothing  which  he  may  not  have  to  do.  He 
must  be  able  to  keep  the  gymnasium  going  and  teach  athletics,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  he  must  be  able  to  lead  the  Bible  classes  and  prayer  meetings 
on  the  other.  He  must  be  a  good  manager,  so  that  the  business  men  of  the 
town  may  be  willing  to  afford  him  their  support.  He  must  be  a  sympathetic 
friend,  so  that  he  may  attract  men  to  the  building,  and  he  must  be  re- 
sourceful and  many-sided  in  order  to  keep  them  there.  He  must  be  able  to 
extend  just  as  warm  a  welcome  to  the  workman  in  his  overalls  as  to  the 
bank  clerk  in  his  tweeds.  He  must  have  a  knowledge  of  sanitation  and 
hygiene:  the  malaria  in  a  southern  mill  village  was  reduced  seventy  per 
cent  in  one  year  by  the  efforts  of  an  Association  secretary.  He  must 
be  able  to  be  an  efl^cient  school  commissioner,  and  even  to  teach  school 
himself  on  occasion.  These  are  only  a  few  of  the  qualifications  which 
secretaries  need,  but  they  will  suffice  to  show  what  sort  of  men  they  must 
be,  and  how  powerful  must  be  the  motive  which  brings  them  into  the  work." 
—  Outlook,  July  13,  1912,  p.  589. 

(5)  "  In  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  [in  Germany]  training 
schools  and  gymnasium  the  gospel  of  Christianity  is  preached  aiiew  and 
seeks  to  bring  salvation  to  man's  physical  frame,  which  the_  still  lingering 
effects  of  asceticism  have  caused  to  be  too  long  neglected  in  its  progressive 
degeneration.  As  the  Greek  games  were  in  honor  of  the  gods,  so  now  the 
body  is  trained  to  glorify  God,  and  regimen,  chastity,  and  temperance 
are  given  a  new  momentijm.  The  physical  salvation  thus  wrought  will 
be,  when  adequately  written,  one  of  the  most  splendid  chapters  in  the 
modern  history  of  Christianity,"— G.  Stanley  Hall:  Adolescence^  Vol.  1, 
p,  189. 


106  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

(7)  "  The  interest  that  college  men  have  in  this  service  which  brings  no 
financial  compensation  is  due  to  the  natural  sympathy  that  most  students 
have  for  those  less  fortunate  than  themselves.  To  awaken  that  sympathy 
they  need  only  to  be  shown  a  real  and  definite  job  to  do  and  how  to  do  it. 
They  can  also  be  shown  that  industrial  service  is  not  only  an  altruistic 
privilege  and  patriotic  duty,  but  also  '  blesseth  him  that  gives  and  him 
that  takes.'  This  service  affords  an  experience  which  students  need,  for 
it  enlarges  a  man's  vision,  increases  his  sympathy  with  '  the  other  half  ' 
and  gives  a  knowledge  of  how  to  deal  with  men. 

"  Many  a  college  man  has  been  kept  straight  and  acquired  higher  ideals 
because  of  some  group  of  men  or  boys  who  were  looking  up  to  him.  One 
such  man,  an  engineer  of  promise,  says:  '  Before  I  undertook  this  work, 
my  one  ideal  in  life  was  to  make  all  the  money  I  could,  regardless  of  any  one 
under  me.  Since  I  gave  some  of  my  time  to  volunteer  service  my  ideals 
have  all  changed.  Now  I  don't  care  where  I  go  or  what  my  salary  so 
long  as  it  is  some  place  where  I  can  serve  my  fellow  men.'  " — The  Survey, 
April  19,  1913,  pp.  105,  107,  108. 

{9)  "  Foreigners  arrive  here  in  all  conditions  of  helplessness  and  igno- 
rance and  their  first  danger  is  of  falling  into  the  hands  of  pretended  friends 
who  will  rob  them  of  their  possessions,  if  they  have  any,  and  in  various 
ways  use  them  to  their  own  harm.  Agents  of  the  Association,  who  are 
designated  as  Port  Secretaries,  meet  ships  bringing  immigrants  at  their 
landing  ports  and  save  them  from  much  of  this  evil.  Last  year  these 
secretaries  met  1136  ships  in  nine  ports,  and  assisted  23,239  persons. 
Their  work  divides  itself  into  two  parts,  after  the  first  rendering  of  advice 
and  assistance,  namely,  following-up  work,  and  educational  work.  Three 
hundred  and  seventy-five  Association  secretaries  in  North  America  were 
communicated  with  last  year  regarding  immigrants  settling  in  their  cities; 
nearly  two  hundred  of  them  served  the  immigrants  by  finding  them  em- 
ployment, looking  up  friends,  furnished  rooms,  boarding,  cashing  checks, 
furnishing  baths,  introducing  them  to  safe  friends,  etc.  Classes  to  teach 
foreigners  the  English  language  were  organized  last  year  in  twenty-nine 
States,  the  District  of  Columbia  and  in  four  provinces  of  Canada;  973 
classes  were  conducted,  1179  teachers  were  employed,  and  16,927  persons 
were  taught.  The  men  in  the  classes  represented  forty-five  different 
nationalities.  One  can  hardly  realize  the  moral  and  inaterial  value  of 
this  service  to  these  arriving  foreigners  until  one  knows  the  baseness, 
shrewdness  and  persistence  of  the  attempts,  often  by  the  very  countrymen 
of  the  foreigner,  to  mislead  them  or  to  rob  them.  Similar  Secretaries 
are  taking  up  work  in  the  ports  of  departure  of  these  immigrants,  and 
thus  the  chain  of  helpfulness  is  extended." — Watchman,  October. 24,  1912. 

The  Questions  for  Discussion.  (1)  To  what  would  you  attribute  the 
growth  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  movement? 

(a)  It  meets  a  great  need,  (b)  It  meets  it  in  a  practical  way  and  by 
the  use  of  activities  that  interest  and  hold  boys  and  young  men.  (c) 
It  accomplishes  not  all  that  it  aims  to  do — no  institution  for  human  better- 
ment does — but  so  much  as  to  make  its  results  of  unquestionable  value 
to  the  individual,  to  society,  to  the  church,  (d)  While  it  seeks  as  its 
final  and  supreme  end  the  cultivation  of  the  spiritual  life,  it  does  this 
on  the  basis  of  an  uplifting  of  the  entire  man. 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  38  107 

(2)  What  would  you  consider  its  value  as  a  factor  in  improving  human 
efficiency? 

"  '  I  did  not  think  it  would  work  in  a  lumber  camp,  but  it  does,  and  it 
has  reduced  the  cost  of  producing  lumber  from  $3.50  a  thousand  feet  to 
$2.75.' 

"  In  this  age  that  is  a  result  which  any  man  would  consider  highly 
satisfactory  when  produced  by  the  most  arduous  direct  effort;  how  much 
more  satisfactory  when  it  is  only  the  by-product  of  another  work  which 
all  intelligent  men  now  admit  to  be  at  least  equally  desirable  in  itself. 

"  For  the  work  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  which  is 
referred  to  in  the  remark  quoted  above,  is  primarily  an  uplift  work — up- 
lifting morally,  mentally  and  physically — and  thousands  of  employers 
all  over  the  country  have  come  to  recognize,  not  only  that  it  is  important' 
but  that  it  is  an  absolute  economic  necessity." — Outlook,  July  13,  1912, 
p.  588. 


Lesson    38.    YOUNG    WOMEN'S    CHRISTIAN 
ASSOCIATIONS. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  arouse  an  interest  in  the  work  done  by 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  in  behalf  of  young  women  who  are 
earning  their  own  living. 

PREPARING   THE  LESSON. 

Extensive  as  the  work  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  has 
become,  the  literature  respecting  it  is  quite  limited.  The  Good  House- 
keeping articles  mentioned  under  the  Additional  Reading  References  in 
the  pupils'  lesson  give  excellent  surveys  of  the  work  done,  and  concrete 
illustrations  of  personal  advantages  received.  The  two  articles  in  Religious 
Education  for  June,  1911,  on  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
in  its  relation  to  girls  in  general,  and  working  girls  in  particular,  may 
prove  helpful.  The  best  preparation  for  this  lesson  would  be  a  careful 
study  of  the  aims,  work,  and  results  attained  in  a  neighboring  Association, 
if  such  is  at  hand. 

TEACHING   THE   LESSON. 

The  Assignment.  The  present  widespread  tendency  to  place  a  large 
emphasis  on  church  federation  in  Christian  work  and  social  betterment 
finds  expression  in  some  form  in  almost  every  community.  Ask  some 
member  of  the  class  to  ascertain,  and  to  state  briefly,  if  any  such  efforts 
have  been  made  by  the  churches  in  your  own  community,  and  to  mention 
any  lines  along  which  co-operation  might  be  productive  of  good  results. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  (2)  In  1858  an  organization  was  formed 
in  New  York  called  the  "  Ladies'  Christian  Association."     Its  purpose 


108  The  Bible  Stvidy  Union  Lessons 

was  "  to  labor  for  the  temporal,  moral,  and  religious  welfare  of  young 
self-supporting  women."  Some  have  claimed  that  this  was  the  true 
beginning  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  movement.  The 
same  claim  has  been  made  for  two  organizations  founded  in  1855 — a 
Prayer  Union  started  by  Miss  Robarts  in  the  south  of  England  for  purely 
spiritual  purposes;  and  a  home  in  London  by  Lady  Kinnaird  for  "  matrons 
of  public  institutions,  schoolmistresses,  public  and  private  nurses,  and 
persons  wishing  to  perfect  themselves  in  any  branch  of  their  profession." 
These  two  organizations  were  imited  in  1877  in  a  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association,  seeking  to  promote  the  all-round  welfare  of  young  women. 
The  Boston  organization  was  unquestionably  the  first  to  adopt  the  name 
that  has  now  become  world-wide,  and  which  after  a  time  was  also  adopted 
by  the  institutions  in  New  York  and  England. 

{6)  A  concrete  illustration  of  how  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations 
get  a  foothold,  develop  into  centers  of  strong  influence,  and  cultivate 
a  beautiful  spirit  of  Christian  helpfulness  is  shown  in  the  following  incident 
condensed  from  Good  Housekeeping,  September,  1909. 

During  the  five  years  that  Sophie  Swanson  had  packed  stockings  in  a 
factory  in  Rockford,  Illinois,  she  had  not  spoken  a  word  of  English,  be- 
cause she  did  not  know  the  language.  Rockford  has  one  of  the  largest 
Swedish  populations  of  any  city  in  the  world  outside  of  Sweden.  But  the 
mental,  moral,  and  aesthetic  outlook  was  small.  For  Sophie  and  the 
girls  around  her,  there  was  no  such  thing  as  a  personal  life.  Sophie  was 
said  to  be  the  most  rapid  packer  of  stockings — and  this  was  the  one  thing 
in  life  for  which  she  was  known. 

Such  was  the  situation  when  the  sweet-faced  secretary  of  the  State 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  found  her  way  with  her  organ  and 
a  few  assistants  into  the  factory  at  the  noon  hour.  Together  they  sang 
a  few  cheery  songs  to  the  wondering  girls.  In  the  life  of  Sophie  Swanson 
the  occasion  was  a  significant  one  indeed,  for  it  marked  the  first  time  that 
she  voluntarily  communicated  with  members  of  the  English  speaking 
race. 

It  was  a  great  hour  for  all  the  girls  as  well,  because  from  this  and  other 
desultory  meetings  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  has  grown 
into  an  established  institution  there  with  a  splendid  building,  comprising 
library,  baths,  club  rooms,  sitting  rooms,  schoolrooms,  and  a  gymnasium, 
all  ruled  over  by  a  wide-awake,  sympathetic  secretary.  The  foreign  girls  are 
taught  English  and  every  other  subject  comprised  in  a  liberal  education. 

Sophie's  work  overtaxed  her  nervous  energy.  She  broke  down  com- 
pletely and  her  mind  gave  way.  She  fancied  that  all  the  girls  in  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  had  become  her  bitter  enemies.  A 
month  at  a  hospital  generously  provided  by  her  employers,  and  the  most 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  38  109 

loving  care  by  the  sisterhood  in  the  beautiful  Association  rooms  failed 
to  restore  her.  When  her  sister  felt  that  she  must  take  her  home  to  Sweden 
to  her  mother,  her  associates  whom  Sophie  believed  to  be  her  enemies 
helped  to  make  up  the  purse  to  send  her.  They  inclosed  over  a  hundred 
presents  in  a  great  bag,  each  one  accompanied  by  a  little  note  of  good 
cheer.  Reading  the  notes  on  the  way  over  gradually  cleared  her  mind, 
and  on  the  last  day  out  she  said  she  was  sorry  she  had  ever  doubted  the 
girls.  Sophie  recognized  her  mother  and  improved  rapidly.  Eventually 
she  returned — on  her  wedding  journey — to  see  the  dear  girls,  who,  she  said, 
she  now  and  forever  knew  were  really  her  sisters. 

This  incident  "  covers  in  miniature  the  scope,  purpose,  and  spirit  of 
the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association.  Beginning  usually  with  a 
series  of  brief  meetings,  held  during  a  noon  hour  in  some  establishment, 
it  grows  and  spreads  until  it  enters  into  the  very  lives  of  that  community, 
literally  making  it  possible  for  discouraged,  misplaced,  neglected  young 
girls  to  live  as  nature  meant  they  should  and  to  find  their  souls." 

(7)  Of  great  "  value  to  the  missionary  cause  has  been  the  influence  of 
the  city  Association  in  training  workers  and  supporting  them.  Young 
women  have  gone  to  the  large  cities  of  India,  China,  and  Japan,  and  now 
to  Buenos  Aires,  to  meet  the  needs  of  foreign  young  women,  as  the  city 
Association  of  America  has  met  the  needs  here.  This  work  is  under  a 
World's  Committee,  with  headquarters  in  London,  but  most  of  the  trained 
secretaries  have  been  supplied  by  America,  and  there  is  now  an  American 
Foreign  Department,  looking  closely  after  the  provision  of  secretaries 
and  their  support.  It  is  a  work  which  missionaries  most  heartily  welcome, 
accomplishing  a  kind  of  service  that  they  have  not  been  able  to  give, 
laboring  not  only  among  the  native  women,  but  also  among  the  Eurasian 
element,  which  has  been  grievously  neglected." — Recent  Christian  Progress, 
p.  427. 

The  Question  for  Discussion.  How  can  Young  Women's  Christian 
Associations  aid  the  Sunday  schools  in  procuring  better  teachers? 

"  The  Sunday  school  is  the  organized  means  of  the  educational  function 
of  the  church  community.  The  bulk  of  its  service  is  to  the  child,  but 
its  educational  responsibility  does  not  end  with  childhood.  The  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  is  the  focus,  for  all  girlhood  and  young 
womanhood,  of  all  the  religious  and  educational  forces  of  the  city,  including 
those  of  the  individual  churches.  .  .  . 

"  If  the  Sunday  school  is  the  chief  organ  of  Bible  teaching  to  all  girls, 
and  the  teachers  must  be  found  in  the  local  churches,  is  the  Association 
to  render  no  service  here?  There  is  one  which  no  other  agency  can  give 
so  well,  viz. :  to  take  these  potential  teachers  and  make  of  them  experts 
in  girlhood.  The  Sunday  school  has  a  right  to  expect  that  the  Association 
shall  so  utilize  existing  agencies  and  devise  new  ones  that  the  young 
woman  of  suitable  personality  existing  in  every  church  may  be  equipped 
with  adequate  knowledge  and  skill  for  the  leadership  of  all  classes  that 
can  be  gathered  together. 

"  The  Sunday  school  which  is  soon  to  be  will  make  it  possible  for  every 
young  man  or  woman  who  completes  its  curriculum  to  have  a  solid,  com- 
prehensive knowledge  of  the  Bible.     It  will  also  furnish  in  its  teacher- 


110  The  Bible  Sttidy  Union  Lessons 

training  class  a  working  knowledge  of  the  fundamentals  of  general  and 
religious  psychology  and  pedagogy  and  Sunday  school  management. 
Until  this  desired  consummation,  it  is  a  legitimate  duty  of  both  Young 
Men's  and  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  to  render  every  assist- 
ance, even  to  initiating  the  work  in  churches  that  do  not  see  their  need. 
It  may  offer  a  center  for  co-operation  of  smaller  churches,  and  help  all 
to  secure  the  best  specialists  possible.  The  Association  may  also  justly 
be  asked  to  help  the  present  corps  of  Sunday  school  teachers  by  suppli^ng 
courses  that  will  make  an  intelligent  whole  of  the  Bible,  bequeathed  by 
the  alternating  current  lessons  system." — Religious  Education,  June,  1911, 
pp.  201-203. 


Lesson  39.    THE  FEDERATION  OF  CHURCHES. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  emphasize  the  present  demand  for  united 
action  on  the  part  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America  in  promoting  the 
establishment  of  the  kingship  of  Jesus  Christ  on  the  earth. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

Books,  pamphlets,  and  innumerable  articles  in  the  religious  press  have 
dealt  during  the  past  quarter  of  a  century  with  the  question  of  church  unity. 
Nearly  all  the  religious  newspapers  during  the  latter  part  of  December, 
1912,  had  editorials  or  communications  relating  to  the  meeting  of  the  Federal 
Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  Chicago  in  the  early  part  of  that  month. 
Abbott's  article  in  the  Outlook  for  December  21,  1912,  gives  a  very  full  and 
illuminating  account  of  its  doings.  Fosdick's  article  in  the  North  American 
Review  presents  a  surprising  survey  of  the  progress  that  has  already  been 
made,  not  merely  toward  federation,  but  actual  union  of  several  large  de- 
nominations.   Some  of  these  facts  are  quoted  below. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignment.  In  view  of  the  probably  frequent  use  of  the  Fourth 
Quarter,  on  "  The  Church  and  the  Social  Awakening,"  as  a  separate  short 
course,  no  assignment  is  here  made  for  Lesson  40. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {1)  "  The  most  significant  movement 
among  the  churches  today,  whether  it  be  considered  with  reference  to  the 
causes  which  prompt  it  or  to  the  results  which  are  likely  to  follow  it,  is  the 
campaign  for  federation  and  unity.  The  movement  is  significant  if  only 
in  the  striking  contrast  that  it  presents  to  the  interdenominational  spirit 
with  which  our  fathers  were  acquainted.  In  serious  controversy  and  some- 
times in  trivial  squabbles,  the  differences  between  denominations  used 
to  be  taken  with  a  seriousness  that  projected  their  consequences  into 
eternity.  It  is  even  to  be  feared  that  Ruskin's  experience,  the  tuming- 
pomt,  as  he  calls  it,  in  his  revolt  against  the  evangelical  creed,  could  have 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  39  111 

been  duplicated  in  many  places  in  Europe  and  America.    He  writes  in  his 
vexation:  ^  .  ,.  ,  -11 

'"A  little  squeaking  idiot  was  preachmg  to  an  audience  of  seventeen  old 
women  and  three  louts  that  they  were  the  only  children  of  God  m  Turin; 
and  that  all  the  people  in  Turin  outside  the  chapel,  and  that  all  the 
people  in  the  world  out  of  sight  of  Monte  Viso,  would  be  damned.  And 
now  in  a  way  that  to  our  fathers  would  have  seemed  unbelievable  the 
dissevered  sections  of  the  Church  are  talking,  praying  working,  and  perhaps 
most  momentous  of  all.  singing  for  unity."— iVorZ/j  Amencan  Review,  May, 
1913,  p.  615.  .       . 

(3)  The  scandalous  length  to  which  individuahsm  has  been  carried  m 
Protestantism  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  there  are  in  this  country  no  less 
than  25  different  brands  of  Lutherans,  17  of  Methodists,  14  of  Baptists,  12 
of  Mennonites,  11  each  of  Brethren  and  Presbyterians,  9  of  Faith  Asso- 
ciations, and  6  of  Adventists.  We  have  here  105  distinct  organizations, 
that  might  easily  be  reduced  to  eight,  were  it  not  that  slender  shades  of  doc- 
trine or  inconsequential  practices  have  been  magnified  into  matters  of  such 
vital  importance  as  to  destroy  the  unifying  power  of  the  fundamental  doc- 
trines of  Christianity.  One  small  denomination,  for  example,  severs  con- 
nection with  the  rest  of  the  Christian  world  on  the  ground  that  it  is  not 
right  to  vote  so  long  as  the  name  of  God  does  not  occur  in  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States.  Of  these  105  denominations  24  have  each  a  member- 
ship of  less  than  1000,  all  told,  and  in  one  case  it  runs  down  to  one  church 
with  forty  members. 

On  the  other  hand  the  fact  should  be  noted  that  among  many  of  these 
smaller  denominations  there  seems  to  be  a  higher  average  of  personal  piety, 
and  certainly  a  far  higher  per  capita  contribution  for  church  work  than  m 
any  of  the  large  bodies. 

(S)  When  the  Federal  Council  was  organized  at  Philadelphia  m  1908,  it 
adopted  a  platform  which  with  some  modifications  has  been  accepted  by 
the  Presbyterian  General  Assembly,  by  the  Methodist  General  Conference, 
and  by  the  Northern  Baptist  Convention.  A  few  extracts  will  indicate  its 
principles  and  aims: 

"  The  Churches  of  Christ  in  this  Federal  Council  accept  without  reserve 
and  assert  without  apology  the  supreme  authority  of  Jesus  Christ 

"  Christ's  mission  is  not  merely  to  reform  society,  but  to  save  it.  He  is 
more  than  the  world's  Readjuster.  He  is  its  Redeemer.  The  Church  be- 
comes worthless  for  its  higher  purpose  when  it  deals  with  conditions  and 
forgets  character,  relieves  misery  and  ignores  sm,  pleads  for  justice  and  un- 

^"thTchiSr^no^'an  end  in  itself.    The  services  of  the  Church  become 
subordinate  to  the  Church's  service  to  men. 

"  At  no  time  have  the  disadvantages  of  the  sectarian  divisions  of  the 
Church  been  more  apparent  than  when  the  call  has  come  for  a  common 
policy  or  a  united  utterance  concerning  such  problems  as  modern  mdustry 
now  presents." 


112  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

"  For  the  right  of  all  men  to  the  opportunity  for  self -maintenance,  ti 
right  ever  to  be  wisely  and  strongly  safeguarded  against  encroachments." 

That  the  Federal  Council  can  speak  with  the  united  voice  of  all  Prot- 
estant churches  in  respect  to  an  important  question  was  shown  in  connec- 
tion with  the  recent  controversy  respecting  Roman  CathoHc  ntms  wearing 
their  distinctive  religious  dress  when  teaching  in  government  schools  for 
the  Indians.  It  is  also  working  for  the  enactment  of  uniform  divorce  laws, 
and  is  considering  the  establishment  of  a  bureau  at  Washington  to  care  for 
the  interests  of  the  Protestant  churches  as  the  Roman  Catholic  bureau 
cares  for  those  of  that  body. 

{9)  "  Canada  is  giving  to  the  churches  one  of  the  most  enheartening  ex- 
hibitions of  the  possibility  of  union.  In  a  movement  to  incorporate  the 
Methodists,  Congregationalists,  and  Presbyterians  of  the  Dominion  into 
one  body,  the  first  two  have  already  voted  by  overwhelming  majorities  in 
favor  of  the  plan,  and  the  last  is  waiting  only  imtil  a  substantial  majority 
can  be  changed  to  practical  unanimity.  It  is  a  clear  certainty  that  soon 
there  will  be  one  church  instead  of  three.  Until  recently  four  separate  Theo- 
logical Seminaries  were  maintained  in  Montreal  by  Anglicans,  Presby- 
terians, Methodists,  and  Congregationalists.  These  four  are  now  incor- 
porated into  one,  and  on  the  campus  of  McGill  University  a  single  building 
is  being  erected  which  wiU  house  them  all." — North  America^i  Review, 
May,  1913,  p.  621. 

"  Work  is  the  great  unifier.  And  could  we  only  persuade  Catholic  and 
Protestant,  Unitarian  and  Trinitarian,  to  join  hands  and  labor  side  by 
side  with  each  other,  and  not  against  each  other,  there  would  not  only  be 
better  feehng  everywhere,  but  there  would  be  a  gradual  harmonizing^  of  be- 
Hefs.  For,  after  all,  work  is  the  true  test  of  a  creed.  As  it  is  more  or  less  the 
expression  of  the  heart's  conviction,  when  several  are  represented  in  a  com- 
mon endeavor,  it  is  hard  to  resist  the  conclusion,  that  the  one  which  is  the 
most  completely  and  continuously  successful  must  have  back  of  it  the  auth- 
ority of  truth.  Let  all  Christians,  then,  federate  their  churches,  and  let 
them  press  forward  to  conquer  the  world  for  Christ,  and  by  and  by,  after 
the  smoke  of  successful  battle  shall  clear  away,  they  probably  will  perceive 
that  the  creeds  which  now  seem  irreconcilably  opposed  have  in  them  much 
in  cornmon,  and  not  enough  of  difference  to  warrant  the  perpetuation  of 
sectarian  names."  — Lorimer:  Christianity  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  pp. 
452,  453. 

*'  Christians  in  the  great  mission  lands,  not  content  with  national  feder- 
ation and  partial  organic  unions,  are  seriously  contemplating  national 
churches.  In  no  coimtry  is  federation  more  inclusive  and  complete,  or  the 
principle  of  Christian  union  more  profoimdly  controlling,  than  in  Japan. 
Christian  India  has  its  National  Missionary  Society  composed  of  Christians 
of  the  several  denominations  and  supported  by  all  alike.  At  the  Centenary 
Missionary  Conference  in  Shanghai  a  national  church  for  China  was  fre- 
quently mentioned,  and  a  resolution  was  offered,  but  not  brought  to  vote, 
in  favor  of  a  national  chiu-ch  as  the  goal  of  aU  mission  work  in  the  empire. 
This  trend,  upon  Oriental  soil,  marks  the  utmost  outreach  at  present  of  the 
union  rnovement.  It  may  be  brought  to  speedy  reahzation.  Church  di- 
visions in  western  countries  are  nothing  less  than  a  scandal  and  oflfense  to 
Oriental  Christians;  why  should  they  be  enforced  or  even  tolerated?     Let 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  39  113 

a  national  Christian  church  arise  in  each  great  country,  to  face  with  un- 
distracted  power  the  prodigious  Oriental  religions.  Such  a  lesson  in  union 
is  too  divine  to  go  unheeded  in  English  speaking  countries,  and  once  more 
the  Christian  hosts  hear  themselves  ordered  forward  to  the  colors." 
— Recent  Christian  Progress,  pp.  328,  329. 

{10)  "  The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  World  Conference  movement  are 
indeed  great.  It  would  be  almost  impossible  to  exaggerate  or  overstate 
them.  But  we  are  not  discouraged  by  them.  Rather,  we  are  fiUed  with 
hopefulness,  for  we  are  convinced  that  whether  an  adequately  representative 
World  Conference  shaU  be  secured  in  our  time  or  not,  the  very  work  of  try- 
ing to  secure  it  is  visibly  and  powerfully  promoting  the  sacred  cause  of 
Christian  Unity. 

"  The  effort  on  behalf  of  this  world-wide  movement  is  helping  to  keep  the 
thought  of  reimion  before  the  minds  of  Christians  everywhere;  it  is  teach- 
ing people  to  think  of  reunion  as  something  that  is  possible,  and  to  be 
seriously  considered;  it  is  proposing  the  one  step  towards  reunion  that  is 
practicable  at  the  present  time;  and  it  is,  we  trust,  serving  steadily  to  in- 
crease the  number  of  Christians  of  ah  names  who  are  desiring  and  devoutly 
praying  that  the  blessed  hope  of  reimion  may  be  actually  realized.  The 
time  is  ripe  for  such  an  effort  as  this.  Never  was  there  a  day,  since  Chris- 
tians became  disunited,  when  the  thought  of  reunion  was  so  much  in  the 
hearts  and  minds  of  men  as  it  is  at  this  moment. 

"  In  all  Communions,  be  they  called  Catholic  or  Protestant,  the  nimiber  is 
daily  increasing  of  those  who  feel,  and  say,  that  the  present  estrangements 
among  those  who  believe  in  and  worship  the  one  Lord  Christ  are  intolerable, 
and  that  they  must  cease. 

"  On  all  hands,  believing  men  and  women  are  realizing  more  and  more 
keenly  not  only  the  weakness  and  the  waste,  but  the  wickedness  of  our  pres- 
ent divisions."  — Report  of  the  Joint  Commission  to  the  General  Conven- 
tion of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  1913. 

The  Questions  for  Discussion.  These  questions  must  be  discussed  in 
relation  to  the  particular  denomination  with  which  the  class  or  Sunday 
school  is  affiliated.  As  the  answers  wiU  vary  in  all  cases,  no  specific  sugges- 
tions can  be  given. 


Books  Recommended 

BOOKS  RECOMMENDED. 

Lang,  J.  M. :  The  Church  and  Its  Social  Mission.  Thomas  Whittaker, 
New  York,  1902,  $1.60.  The  Baird  Lecture  for  1901.  Traces  the  gradual 
unfolding  of  the  church's  mission  to  the  world,  and  its  relation  to  the 
vast  and  intricate  problems  of  modern  life. 

The  Church  and  Social  Work:  Papers  and  Addresses  by  nine  dis- 
tinguished exponents  of  Social  Service,  Protestant  and  Catholic,  Unitarian 
and  Trinitarian.  Reprinted  from  the  Proceedings  of  the  National  Con- 
ference of  Charities  and  Corrections,  1911,  by  the  Commission  on  the 
Church  and  Social  Service,  Charles  S.  Macfarland,  Secretary,  1611  Claren- 
don Building,  215  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York. 

Grose,  H.  B.:  Incoming  Americans.  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co.,  New  York, 
1906,  50  cents,  paper  30  cents.  A  handbook  for  a  study  of  the  immigrants 
crowding  into  this  country,  the  settlements  they  make  here,  the  means 
by  which  they  are  being  Americanized,  and  especially  the  work  done 
for  them  by  Women's  Home  Mission  Societies. 

Steiner,  E.  A.:  On  the  Trail  of  the  Immigrant.  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co., 
New  York,  1906,  $1.50.  A  sympathetic  and  optimistic  survey  of  the 
character  and  social  value  of  the  alien  tide  from  southeastern  Europe. 
Written  in  a  sketchy  style. 

Smith,  R.  M.:  Emigration  and  Immigration.  A  Study  in  Social 
Science.  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York,  1892,  $1.50.  A  sane,  but 
not  optimistic,  consideration  of  the  problems  occasioned  by  the  vast 
number  of  aliens  admitted  into  this  country. 

Wilson,  W.H.:  The  Church  of  the  Open  Country.  Missionary  Education 
Movement,  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York,  1911,  50  cents.  A  popular  dis- 
cussion of  the  conditions  that  surround  country  churches  and  of  the  problems 
to  which  these  conditions  give  rise.     Designed  for  the  use  of  study  classes. 

Butterfield,  K.  L.:  The  Country  Church  and  the  Rural  Problem.  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago  Press,  Chicago,  1911,  $1.00.  The  most  satisfactory 
discussion  that  has  yet  appeared  of  the  principles  that  underlie  the  whole 
problem. 

Beard,  A.  F.:  The  Story  of  John  Frederick  Oberlin.  Pilgrim  Press, 
Boston,  1909,  $1.25.  A  story  of  the  transformation,  social  and  religious, 
wrought  by  one  minister  in  an  almost  hopelessly  bad  rural  commimity. 

Duncan,  Norman:  Higgins,  A  Man's  Christian.  Harper  Bros.,  New 
York,  1909,  50  cents.  Sketches  of  missionary  work  in  lumber  camps 
that  grip  the  reader's  attention  from  the  first  page  to  the  last. 

Clark,  J.  B.:  Leavening  the  Nation.  Baker,  New  York,  1903,  $1.25. 
A  very  complete  and  satisfactory  treatment  of  the  history  and  results 
of  home  missions  in  our  own  country. 

Strong,  Josiah:  Our  Country,  Its  Possible  Future  and  Present  Crisis. 
Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.,  Garden  City,  N.  Y.,  revised  edition,  60  cents, 
paper  30  cents.  A  widely  circulated  and  most  impressive  discussion  of 
the  social  problems  and  perils  that  threaten  our  national  welfare. 

Report  of  the  Commission  on  the  Church  and  Social  Service  to  The 
Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,  as  adopted  by  the 
Council,  December  9,  1912,  in  the  Quadrennial  Session  in  Chicago,  111. 

For  other  literature  bearing  on  The  Federation  of  Churches,  and  on 
the  work  that  can  be  done  by  denominational  co-operation,  apply  to  The 
Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,  1611  Clarendon 
Building,  215  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York. 


THE  SENIOR  TEACHER 

An  Aid  in  Teaching  the  Course  on 
THE  MODERN   CHURCH 


Lesson  40.    HOW  THE  MODERN  INDUSTRIAL 
PROBLEM   AROSE. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  assist  the  pupil  in  getting  a  better  under- 
standing of  the  reasons  for  the  widespread  discontent  with  the  modern 
industrial  system. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

Even  a  cursory  reading  of  daily  papers  must  impress  upon  one  the 
gigantic  struggle  going  on  in  every  direction  between  labor  and  capital. 
Strikes  that  would  be  accompanied  by  far  more  violence  than  they  really 
are  but  for  the  restraining  power  of  law,  police,  and  militia,  are  reported 
almost  every  day.  Not  unfrequently  this  industrial  warfare  is  accompanied 
by  destruction  of  property  and  of  human  life.  Ely's  Outlines  of  Economics 
sketches  quite  fully  the  development  of  the  extraordinary  industrial 
conditions  that  now  cause  such  widespread  distiurbances  and  vast  losses 
to  all  concerned.  The  teacher  will  find  more  or  less  discussion  of  it  in 
almost  all  treatises  on  modern  economics.  Plantz's  chapter  on  the  "  Social 
Problem  "  is  also  illuminating,  and  so  is  Well's  chapter  on  "  The  Economic 
Outlook." 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  Assign  to  three  or  four  members  of  the  class  the 
preparation  of  brief  statements,  not  over  two  hundred  words,  of  what 
they  would  consider  the  effect  of  a  strict  application  of  Christian  principles 
to  the  particular  industry  or  profession  in  which  each  is  engaged. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {1,  2)  The  principal  industry  in  Eng- 
land prior  to  1767  was  the  manufacture  of  woolen  goods.  How  this  was 
conducted  is  described  in  the  following  paragraph  from  Ely's  Outlines 
of  Economics,  p.  28. 

"  The  '  manufacturer,'  as  the  hand  worker  was  then  properly  called, 
had  his  home,  his  cows,  and  his  poultry;  he  bought  his  own  wool,  his  wife 
spun  it  into  yarn,  and  together  they  wove  it  and  sold  it  at  the  *  fair,' 
enjoying  all  the  proceeds.  These  proceeds  were  not,  could  not  be,  very, 
great,  and  he  never  became  rich,  but  he  enjoyed  independence  and  rude 
comfort.  It  is  much  to  say  in  favor  of  any  system  that  it  produces  general 
independence  and  comfort,  but  '  not  a  beggar  or  idle  person.'  Before 
the  age  of  which  we  write,  however,  this  had  somewhat  changed.  Cities 
began    to    attract    '  manufacturers,'  .  .  .  The    inevitable    tendency    to 

115 


116  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

divide  the  process  appeared;  manufacturers  found  it  difficult  to  buj^  wool 
and  spin  it  along  with  the  weaving  process.  So  the  processes  were  divided 
and  a  middleman  appeared  who  bought  yarn  from  the  spinners  and  sold 
it  to  the  weavers.  Then  he  ceased  to  sell  the  yarn,  but  advanced  it,  keep- 
ing a  claim  on  the  cloth  and  paying  a  certain  sum  for  the  weaving.  Thus 
the  '  manufacturer  '  become  a  workman,  a  wage-earner,  and  a  dependent 
upon  the  capitalist  who  furnished  the  stock.  The  germs  of  the  factory 
system  thus  existed  in  1760,  though  as  yet  the  work  was  generally  done 
by  hand." 

(6)  How  improved  machinery  driven  by  the  power  of  steam  has 
increased  production  is  illustrated  by  the  following  instances  given  in  Well's 
Recent  Economic  Changes,  pp.  54-61. 

"  The  sobriquet  of  an  apothecary  was  formerly  that  of  a  pill-maker; 
but  the  modern  apothecary  no  longer  makes  pills,  except  upon  special 
prescriptions;  inasmuch  as  scores  of  large  manufacturies  now  produce 
pills  by  machinery  according  to  the  standard  or  other  formulas,  and 
every  apothecary  keeps  and  sells  them,  because  they  are  cheaper,  better, 
and  more  attractive  than  any  that  he  can  make  himself." 

"  On  the  great  wheat  fields  of  the  State  of  Dakota,  where  machinery  is 
applied  to  agriculture  to  such  an  extent  that  the  requirement  for  manual 
labor  has  been  reduced  to  a  minimum,  the  annual  product  of  one  man's 
labor,  working  to  the  best  advantage,  is  imderstood  to  be  now  equivalent 
to  the  production  of  5500  bushels  of  wheat.  In  the  great  miUs  of  Minne- 
sota, the  labor  of  another  one  man  for  a  year,  under  similar  conditions  as 
regards  machinery,  is  in  like  manner  equivalent  to  the  conversion  of  this 
unit  of  5500  bushels  of  wheat  into  a  thousand  barrels  of  flour,  leaving 
500  bushels  for  seed  purposes.  .  .  . 

"  Here,  then,  we  have  the  labor  of  three  men  for  one  year,  working  with 
machinery,  resulting  in  the  producing  aU  the  flour  that  a  thousand  other 
men  ordinarily  eat  in  a  year,  allowing  one  barrel  of  flour  for  the  average 
consumption  of  each  adiilt." 

"  In  the  time  of  Adam  Smith  it  was  regarded  as  a  wonderful  achieve- 
ment for  ten  men  to  make  48,000  pins  in  a  day,  but  now  three  men  can 
make  7,500,000  pins  of  a  vastly  superior  character  in  the  same  time." 

{8)  "  The  present  condition  is  one  of  segregation  of  classes  rather  than 
of  unity.  The  close  adhesion  between  labor  and  capital  which  used  to 
exist,  the  social  solidarity,  is  threatened,  if  not  destroyed.  In  former 
times  the  classes  were  in  much  closer  social  touch.  There  were  fewer 
capitalists,  and  mutual  interests  were  closer.  The  feudal  lord  and  his 
men  were  held  together  by  common  dangers,  and  by  the  fate  of  the  one 
settling  that  of  the  other.  In  our  new  era  of  industrial  development, 
labor  and  capital  belong  to  different  spheres,  and  although  the  cottage 
may  be  in  the  same  block  as  the  mansion,  the  social  chasm  between  the 
two  is  not  bridged.  The  acquaintance  between  masters  and  journeymen 
which  characterized  the  mediaeval  guilds  is  not  known  under  the  factory 
system,  where  the  only  bond  that  exists  is  the  contract  on  the  market 
price  of  labor.  This  develops  social  cliques,  classes,  and  parties,  each 
ignoring  one  another's  interests,  and  organizing  and  combining  to  promote 
their  own.  Self-seeking  and  self-interest  become  the  rule,  with  the  inevit- 
able result  of  factional  antagonism  and  animosities." — Plantz:  The 
Church  and  the  Social  Problem,  pp.  21,  22. 

(10)  "  Few  people  realize  the  tons  of  tracts,  papers,  books,  all  denounc- 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  Jfi  117 

ing  the  present  economic  system,  which  are  weekly  distributed  among 
the  masses.  The  labor  press  is  now  a  large  institution,  and  has  estab- 
lished itself  in  every  great  city  and  developed  a  large  constituency  of 
readers.  Besides  the  press,  is  the  agitator  who  addresses  the  laborer  in 
his  halls,  at  his  conventions,  or  on  the  street  corner.  The  agitation  is 
constant,  and  it  is  abundant.  The  workingmen  are  receiving  a  daily 
education  in  the  principles  of  theorists  and  reformers,  who  are  united  in 
this,  that  they  cry  aloud  against  the  present  industrial  system  and  declare 
it  must  speedily  be  overthrown  .  .  .  The  age  has  every  facility  for  the 
spread  of  the  new  doctrines.  Freedom  of  speech;  inter-communication 
between  nations ;  the  press  announcing  each  morning  what  has  been  done  in 
different  States  and  communities  the  day  previous;  the  reports  of  the 
extravagances  and  luxurious  living  of  the  rich;  the  announcement  of  a 
thousand  desirable  things  in  which  other  people  are  participating,  but  which 
are  denied  the  laborer;  clubs  organized  through  which  to  counsel  and  work 
together;  strikes  to  inflame;  the  massing  of  the  people  in  sections  of  cities 
—  all  these  conditions  are  most  favorable  to  propagate  new  views,  stir 
up  antagonism  to  existing  institutions,  or  whet  the  appetite  for  revolu- 
tion."—  Ibid.:  pp.  54-56. 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.  Is  it  true  that  the  rich  are  grow- 
ing richer  and  the  poor  poorer  every  day? 

It  is  true  that  during  the  past  fifty  years  there  has  been  an  enormous 
increase  in  the  aggregate  wealth  of  the  country,  and  that  this  wealth  is 
possessed  by  a  comparatively  small  class.  Investigations  have  shown 
that  of  the  12,690,152  families  in  the  coimtry  91  per  cent  own  only  29 
per  cent  of  the  wealth,  while  the  remaining  9  per  cent  own  71  per  cent.  But 
it  is  also  true  that  labor  is  better  housed,  better  fed,  better  clothed,  better 
paid,  than  ever  before.  Investigation  has  also  shown  that  between  1866 
and  1903  wages  rose  in  the  United  States  more  than  70  per  cent  in  agri- 
cultiu-e  and  more  than  100  per  cent  in  industries.  Hours  of  labor  have 
been  greatly  shortened,  leaving  to  the  laborer  such  opportunities  for  self- 
culture  and  an  enjoyment  of  life  as  never  before.  At  the  same  time, 
however,  the  standard  of  living  has  advanced  and  wants  have  multiplied 
to  such  an  extent  as  to  leave  the  individual  laborer  very  little  better  off 
than  before.  Notwithstanding  high  wages  there  are  multitudes  of  hard- 
working men  and  women  who  in  spite  of  their  most  strenuous  efforts  are 
living  on  the  edge  of  poverty.  Says  the  Northwestern  Christian  Advocate 
of  May  17,  1905:  "  Those  who  are  forced  by  their  circumstances  to  a 
chronic  struggle  with  penury,  who  get  barely  enough  money  return  for 
their  labor,  exacting  and  onerous  though  it  may  be,  to  supply  meagerly 
the  necessities  of  life,  and  not  sufficient  to  maintain  the  body  at  its  proper 
working  efficiency  —  their  status  is  not  much  worse  than  that  of  the  actual 
beggar.  And  yet  this  is  the  status  of  millions  of  laboring  people  in  the 
country." 


118  The  Bible  Sttidy  Union  Lessons 

Lesson  41.    THE   CHRISTIAN   IDEAL  OF   SOCIETY. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  show  how  far  the  current  schemes  for  dealing 
with  the  social  problem  are  in  accord  with  the  Christian  ideals,  and  to 
lead  the  chiirch  to  adopt  and  apply  the  social  ideals  of  Christianity. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

The  last  twenty  years  have  witnessed  an  astonishing  increase  of  inter- 
est in  the  relation  of  the  churches  to  the  social  problems  of  our  time. 
One  result  is  an  immense  increase  in  the  literature  bearing  on  the  sub- 
ject. We  have  not  only  a  large  number  of  books  treating  it  from  various 
points  of  view,  but  a  flood  of  articles  in  religious  periodicals.  The  teacher 
cannot  fail  to  find  in  any  pubHc  library,  and  in  nearly  all  pastors'  libraries, 
several  of  the  more  important  books  dealing  with  the  question.  The 
two  volumes  by  Professor  Rauschenbusch  have  aroused  widespread  atten- 
tion. For  the  present  lesson  teachers  will  get  much  valuable  help  from 
Plantz'  "  The  Church  and  the  Social  Problem."  Any  file  of  denomina- 
tional newspapers,  or  of  unsectarian  periodicals  such  as  The  Independent, 
or  The  Outlook,  will  reveal  many  articles  that  bear  on  the  topic. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  The  next  lesson  will  deal  more  specifically  with 
a  subject  already  touched,  viz.,  the  church's  relation  to  the  industrial 
conflicts  of  our  time. 

Ask  some  member  of  the  class  to  hunt  up  the  origin  and  present  use  of 
the  word  "  boycott." 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  (1)  "  All  that  the  clearest  spiritual 
insight  of  the  reUgious  teachers  before  him  had  conceived  and  expressed 
about  God  Jesus  at  once  adopted,  but  he  so  enlarged  and  deepened  the 
meaning  of  the  word  '  God  '  as  to  make  his  revelation  virtually  new.  He 
chose  the  word  '  Father,'  as  best  suited  to  his  conception,  and  by  making 
the  central  all-determining  idea  of  that  '  the  will  to  love  '  he  not  only 
brought  God  close  to  life,  but  also  made  God's  redemptive  purpose  lumi- 
nous and  constant.  The  God  whose  ceaseless  love  is  revealed  in  his  purpose 
to  save  and  to  serve,  makes  every  life  that  acknowledges  his  Fatherhood 
a  saviour  and  a  servant  to  the  extent  of  its  power  and  opportunity. 

"  I  caU  your  attention  to  the  expression  '  the  wiU  to  love.'  Men  some- 
times, I  fear,  think  of  that  exalted  word  of  the  gospels,  '  love,'  as  a  senti- 
mental, effeminate,  pietistic  quality  which  can  live  only  in  a  soft  climate 
and  in  smooth  places.  They  forget  that  he  who  consecrated  it  as  the 
expression  of  true  religion  did  so  amid  the  relentless  antagonisms  of  those 
who  made  him  at  last  climb  the  stony  slope  of  Calvary.  Love,  as  Jesus 
used  it,  may  glow  with  all  the  warmth  of  real  affection,  but,  whether 
with  glow  or  not,  it  is  essentially  the  giving  of  self  for  the  good  of  others." 
—  J.  S.  Riggs  in  The  Interior.     February  10,  1910. 

(4)  "  AU  socialism  is  based  upon  faith  in  the  ability  of  man  to  im- 
prove the  conditions  of  life  and  in  a  certain  type  of  man.  The  one  stock 
argument  against  socialism  is  that  it  is  impracticable  idealism,  beautiful 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  4I  119 

if  it  could  only  be  realized  —  but  it  cannot  be.  It  is  at  this  point,  it 
seems  to  me,  that  the  church  and  socialism  meet  on  common  ground. 
An  ideal  state  of  society  undoubtedly  means  an  ideal  individual.  A 
society  based  upon  self-interest  can  only  be  advanced  to  a  society  based 
on  imseliish  devotion  to  the  common  good  by  a  gradual  increase  in  the 
number  of  unselfish  individuals. 

"  Socialists  believe  that  the  individual  of  the  future  will  be  content 
with  a  moderate  financial  compensation  for  his  labor,  physical  or  mental. 
His  one  great  aim  will  be  the  service  of  his  fellowmen.  Will  man  use 
his  talents  for  the  common  good  without  the  stimulus  of  gold?  Or,  is 
man  so  inherently  selfish  that  he  will  not  develop  his  capacities  or  employ 
his  powers  in  service  unless  he  can  make  a  fortune  by  exploiting  the  less 
favorably  endowed?  Is  not  that  the  supreme  issue  involved  in  socialism 
and  in  Christianity? 

"  To  have  in  us  '  the  mind  of  Jesus  '  is  to  be  ruled  by  the  spirit  of  loving 
service.  If  that  spirit  must  forever  be  limited  to  a  few  financially  unprof- 
itable callings,  or  to  a  few  superior  souls,  we  may  as  well  confess  that 
true  Christianity  demands  the  impossible  and  the  kingdom  of  God  is, 
and  must  forever  remain,   a  dream. 

"  The  faith  of  socialism  involves  the  development  of  the  spirit  of  brother- 
hood beyond  national  sympathies  and  ties.  True,  it  is  the  brotherhood 
of  the  proletariat  which  socialism  teaches;  but  Christianity  is  committed 
to  that  and  more.  It  is  essentially  international  in  its  fundamental  ideal. 
"  The  church  might  support  socialism  in  its  opposition  to  war.  Surely 
it  should  not  be  outdone  by  socialism  in  preaching  the  gospel  of  universal 
peace. 

"  The  church  should  believe  with  socialism  in  the  possibility  of  man's 
control  over  environment,  in  his  power  to  abolish  many  conditions  hitherto 
regarded  as  the  necessary  conditions  of  a  wicked,  secular  world. 

"  Rightly  interpreted,  the  kingdom  of  God  involves  great  changes  in 
the  social  environment,  progress  in  legislation,  institutions,  organization. 
The  church  should  not  teach  a  one-sided  individualism.  It  may  cling 
tenaciously  to  the  doctrine  of  individual  regeneration,  but  its  ideal  of  the 
Christian  life  should  include  the  spirit  and  obligations  of  social  service." 
—  A.  W.  Wishart  in  The  Standard,  March  16,  1909. 

(7)  An  "  encouraging  feature  of  the  social  problem  as  considered  today 
is  that  it  is  regarded  not  simply  as  an  economic  question,  but  also  as  an 
ethical  one.  ...  It  has  come  to  be  felt  that  the  glory  of  a  nation  is 
not  simply  in  its  wealth  and  commercial  prosperity,  but  in  the  growing 
intelligence,  happiness,  and  moral  worth  of  all  the  people.  A  nation  may 
be  rich  and  it  may  be  a  curse  in" the  face  of  civilization ;  for  it  may  have 
that  wealth  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  and  wring  it  out  of  the  life  and  strength 
of  an  oppressed  people.  The  civilization  which' can  produce  the  greatest 
intelligence  and  virtue  among  all  classes  is  clearly  the  highest;  and  there- 
fore the  primary  question  of  society  must  always  be,  how  can  conditions 
be  developed  which  will  give  the  largest  number  of  men  the  best  chance 
for  support  and  self -improvement?  All  trade,  all  labor  contracts  must 
come  under  the  influence  of  this  great  thought  and  end  of  society. 
Every  employer,  therefore,  must  consider  the  relation  of  the  wages  he 
pays,  and  the  work  he  assigns,  and  the  conditions  under  which  it  is  done, 
to  the  well-being  of  the  man  he  employs.  .  .  . 

"  The  social  question,  therefore,  in  our  day  has  become  an  ethical  ques- 
tion, arising  out  of  a  deepening  of  the  ethical  sense  of  the  community,  and 


120  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

marking  a  step  in  moral  progress.  The  very  crux  of  the  present  agitation 
is  not  whether  labor  is  worse  off  than  formerly,  but  is  the  present  economic 
condition  just;  is  the  industrial  situation  right?  And  that  which  arouses 
the  laboring  element  so  strongly  is  the  feeling  that  it  is  not  right;  that  in 
the  present  system  capital  is  selfish;  that  an  unrighteous  lust  for  gain  and 
power  has  taken  hold  of  the  '  captains  of  industry';  and  that  men  who 
toil  are  not  being  treated  from  the  standpoint  of  justice  and  brotherhood. 
There  is  thus  the  force  of  a  moral  feeling  behind  every  protest  against  the 
present  system,  even  when  it  is  made  by  the  wild  and  extravagant  voice 
of  the  social  agitator." — Plantz:  The  Church  and  the  Social  Problem^ 
pp.  67-71. 

(9)  Jesus  was  something  more  than  a  great  reformer.  In  the  case  of 
the  two  brothers  who  quarreled  over  some  property,  he  refused  to  be  a 
judge.  He  refused  to  be  a  leader  in  righting  the  oppressions  from  which 
his  countrymen  siiffered  under  the  brutal  and  despotic  rule  of  Rome. 
Slavery  was  a  universal  institution,  but  he  never  mentioned  it.  In  every 
city  and  town  that  he  visited  there  were  degraded,  despairing  women  whose 
wages  were  death,  but  Jesus  did  not  try  to  suppress  the  evil.  The  fact  was 
that,  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  word,  Jesus  utterly  refused  to  make 
himself  a  social  reformer.  This  refusal  was  not  due  to  his  failure  to  per- 
ceive the  social  evils  of  his  time,  but  to  a  conviction  that  his  mission  had 
scope  larger  than  that  of  a  mere  reformer,  so  large,  in  fact,  as  to  embrace 
not  merely  the  doing  away  with  this  or  that  evil,  but  with  evil  as  a  whole. 
The  one  sphere  to  which  he  limited  his  ministry  was  that  of  religion,  the 
establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  God  among  men.  The  moment  we 
realize  that  this  was  his  supreme  purpose,  "it  is  not  difficult  to  under- 
stand why  he  left  the  great  pressing  social  problems  of  his  age  to  time  and 
to  a  dynamic  which  is  symbolized  neither  by  the  sword  nor  the  ballot. 
Religion  was  to  be  the  solvent  of  the  world's  desperate  social  ills.  God 
incarnated  in  human  lives  was  to  bring  in  the  better  day.  To  men  he 
gave  the  vision  and  the  Spirit  and  the  power.  So  they  must  save  the 
world. 

"  That,  in  broad  outline,  is  the  conception  pf  Jesus.  The  realization  of 
it  compels  two  things: 

"  1.  The  winning  of  men  one  by  one  to  personal,  individual  acknowledge- 
ment of  God's  claim  to  their  complete  and  constant  service. 

"  2.  Such  shaping  of  the  social  order  as  shall  facilitate  and  strengthen 
God's  claim  on  men  by  revealing  the  spirit  which  shall  make  the  claim 
attractive. 

"  Of  these  duties,  the  one  is  meant  to  lead  directly  to  the  other." —  J.  S. 
Riggs  in  The  Interior,  February  10,  1910. 

The  Question  for  Discussion.  Does  a  Christian  social  order  mean 
perfection? 

"  A  Christian  social  order  cannot  mean  perfection.  As  long  as  men 
are  flesh  and  blood  the  world  can  be  neither  sinless  nor  painless.  For 
instance,  how  can  any  form  of  social  organization  keep  the  tremendous 
electric  current  of  sex  desire  from  going  astray  and  dealing  misery  and 
shame?     The  law  of  growth,  which  is  essential  to  human  life,  itself  makes 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  4^  121 

any  static  perfection  impossible.  Every  child  is  born  a  kicking  little 
egotist  and  has  to  learn  by  its  own  mistakes  and  sins  to  co-ordinate  itself 
with  the  social  life  of  every  successive  group  which  it  enters.  If  per- 
fection were  reached  today,  new  adjustments  would  be  demanded  tomorrow 
by  the  growth  of  new  powers.  .  .  . 

"  But  within  the  limitations  of  human  nature  I  believe  that  the  con- 
stitutional structure  of  the  social  order  can  be  squared  with  the  demands 
of  Christian  morality.  At  every  new  step  of  moral  progress  the  clamor  has 
gone  up  that  fairness  and  decency  were  Utopian  fanaticism  and  would  ruin 
society,  but  instead  of  making  the  social  machinery  unworkable,  every 
step  toward  collective  Christian  ethics  proved  an  immense  relief  to  society. 

"  An  unchristian  social  order  can  be  known  by  the  fact  that  it  makes 
good  men  do  bad  things.  It  tempts,  defeats,  drains,  and  degrades,  and 
leaves  men  stunted,  cowed,  and  shamed  in  their  manhood.  A  Christian 
social  order  makes  bad  men  do  good  things.  It  sets  high  aims,  steadies 
the  vagrant  impulses  of  the  weak,  trains  the  powers  of  the  young,  and  is 
felt  by  all  as  an  uplifting  force  which  leaves  them  with  the  consciousness 
of  a  broader  and  nobler  humanity  as  their  years  go  on." —  Rauschenbusch : 
Christianizing  the  Social  Order,  pp.  126,  127. 


Lesson  42.    THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  INDUSTRIAL 
WARFARE. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  show  the  nature  of  the  industrial  conflict, 
and  how  the  church  can  mitigate  its  asperities  and  remove  its  causes. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

The  suggestions  given  under  this  heading  in  Lesson  41  hold  good  here 
also.  Teachers  will  find  much  help  in  Professor  Peabody's  chapter  on 
"  The  Industrial  Order." 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  The  next  lesson  is  on  the  duty  of  the  church  in  pro- 
moting the  welfare  of  wage-earners. 

Assign  to  some  member  of  the  class  the  preparation  of  a  brief  paper  on 
the  reasons  why  so  many  women  and  children  are  employed  in  modern 
industries. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {1)  "  The  form  of  the  industrial  problem 
has  become  determined  by  the  amazing  expansion  of  modern  industrial 
methods,  the  vast  combinations  of  employers  and  of  employed,  and  the 
enormous  prizes  which  reward  strategy  or  good  fortune.  These  char- 
acteristics of  modern  industry  have  brought  the  factors  of  industry  to 
a  situation  which  appears  not  unlike  a  state  of  war.  The  forces  of  pro- 
duction are  maintained  on  a  war  footing.  The  modem  '  captain  of 
industry  '  is  of  the  same  stuff  which  makes  great  generals.  He  is  a  far- 
sighted,  determined  leader  of  men,  with  his  mind  fixed  on  a  single  end, 


122  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

and  with  an  industrial  army  at  his  command.  Over  against  him  are  many 
opposing  forces  —  the  forces  of  his  immediate  competitors  in  business, 
the  remoter  hostihty  of  competing  nations,  and,  more  than  all,  the  spirit 
of  industrial  disaffection  stirring  in  his  own  troops  and  inciting  to  mutiny. 
More  and  more  the  industrial  world  finds  itself  occupied  by  two  armed 
camps  —  the  force  of  the  employers  combined  to  meet  what  seems  the 
unreasonable  demands  of  the  unemployed.  Strikes  and  lock-outs  are 
temporary  raids  across  the  enemy's  frontier;  organization  on  both  sides 
disciplines  and  drills  the  contending  armies;  industrial  arbitration,  Hke 
international  arbitration,  offers  itself  as  a  last  substitute  for  battle;  while, 
hanging  on  to  the  skirts  of  the  two  forces,  threatening  the  employers  with 
violence,  and  weakening  by  its  competition  the  power  of  the  employed, 
is  that  unorganized  shifting  mass  which  we  call  the  army  of  the  unem- 
ployed."—  Peabody:  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Question,"  pp.  268,  269. 

(3)  How  nearly  the  great  strike  in  Dublin  approaches  a  condition  of 
industrial  war,  and  how  such  conditions  presage  an  impending  social  revo- 
lution is  indicated  in  a  recent  letter  to  The  Watchman- Examiner,  January 
8,  1914,  from  Rev.  G.  O.  Griffith:  "  '  I  say  solemnly  from  this  pulpit,' 
declared  Mr.  Campbell  in  the  City  Temple  recently,  '  that  if  tendencies 
continue  what  they  are  we  may  find  ourselves  before  very  long  in  the 
throes  of  revolution.'  Mr.  Campbell's  announcement  could  have  seemed 
to  but  few  of  his  hearers  a  strange  and  unexpected  prediction.  For  some 
years  the  British  public  has  lived  and  moved  in  an  atmosphere  electric 
with  insurgency.  The  man-in-the-street  has  foresensed  a  revolution  long 
ago,  and  the  orator  on  the  street  corner  has  described  it  in  advance.  For 
all  that  the  tension  these  days  is  heightened.  We  have  become  accustomed 
to  the  thought  that  sooner  or  later  we  shall  find  ourselves  shooting  the 
rapids,  but  now  that  the  thunder  of  the  falls  seems  to  be  growing  perceptibly 
louder  there  is  a  new  sense  of  apprehension  and  crisis. 

"  The  latest  sign  of  the  times  is  the  industrial  upheaval  in  Dublin. 
For  many  weeks,  as  every  one  knows,  Mr.  James  Larkin  and  his  union 
defied  the  Dublin  employers  in  a  strike  that  all  but  paralyzed  local  indus- 
try, and,  in  vehemence  and  intensity,  eclipsed  the  Ulster  revolt  in  the 
North.  There  is  a  crude  pun  going  the  rounds  in  Ireland  today  —  '  Car- 
son is  only  larkin'  '  —  but  certainly  Larkin  isn't.  He  succeeded  in  making 
the  Dubhn  struggle  a  national  question.  He  was  tried,  sentenced,  im- 
prisoned. The  imperial  government,  unable  to  explain  why  the  labor 
leader  should  be  behind  the  bars  for  sedition  and  Sir  Edward  Carson  be 
allowed  to  re\aew  his  *  rebel  '  troops,  was  forced  to  override  the  Dublin 
executive  and  set  the  agitator  free.  He  used  his  restored  liberty  to  attack 
the  government  and  carry  '  the  fiery  cross  '  into  Great  Britain,  and  every- 
where he  was  received  by  cheering  multitudes." 

(4)  That  the  industrial  problem  is  at  bottom  a  cry  for  justice  is  indicated 
by  the  following  extract  from  the  same  letter: 

"  From  any  viewpoint  Larkinism  reveals  sinister  conditions  in  the 
industrial  world.  The  movement  has  brought  once  more  into  spectacular 
prominence  the  inhimian  regime  of  wage-cutting  that  has  existed  in  Dublin 
and,  in  greater  or  less  degree,  in  other  industrial  centers.  It  appears 
that,  before  Larkin's  advent,  workmen's  wages  in  some  Dublin  trades 
were  as  low  as  $2.50  or  $3  per  week.  At  a  recent  remarkable  convention, 
organized  by  the  Duchess  of  Marlborough  and  presided  over  by  Bishop 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  4^  123 

Gore,  a  dozen  women  from  the  working  class  ranks  told  to  a  fashionable 
London  audience  their  story  of  industrial  slavery.  Here  is  a  condensed 
extract  from  the  report: 

"  '  Shirt-making  '  was  represented  by  a  woman  from  the  West  End  of 
London.  Unfolding  a  coarse  shirt  she  remarked,  '  A  dozen  of  these  right 
out  before  earning  9d.  [18  cents!]  Last  week  me  and  my  husband 
sat  from  5:30  in  the  morning  until  11  at  night  and  made  fourteen  dozen 
shirts,  which  came  to  10s.  6d.[  $2.56],  out  of  which  we  had  to  pay  Is.  6d. 
for  the  machine  and  Is.  lOd.  for  cotton  [80  cents  in  all].'  A  worker  in  a 
confectionery  factory  came  next.  She  had  twenty  years'  experience  of 
the  occupation.  '  I  have  been  earning  8s.  [$2]  a  week,'  she  said,  '  out  of 
which  I  used  to  give  my  mother  5s.  6d.,  me  being  a  widow.  Out  of  my 
2s.  6d.  [60  cents]  I  had  to  buy  my  child's  clothes,  the  rest  being  for  meals.' 
Another  '  woman  had  quite  a  cheerful  countenance.  Holding  high  above 
her  head  the  uppers  of  two  shoes,  she  remarked  with  a  laugh,  "  These 
are  what  are  commonly  called  *  pumps.'  ...  I  get  lOd.  [20  cents]  for 
twelve  pairs,  and  it  takes  me  an  hour  to  make  two  pairs.  The  most 
I  can  earn  is  6s.  or  7s.  [roughly,  $1.50  or  $1.75]  a  week,  working  very 
hard  from  morning  till  night,  and  finding'my  own  machine  and  cotton.  '  " 

(9)  "  Concerning  the  attitude  of  the  church  in  cases  of  conflict  between 
labor  and  capital,  we  would  say  that  it  has  no  right  whatever  to  inter- 
fere in  an  official  capacity.  The  case  would  have  to  be  very  exceptional 
where  it  would  be  proper  for  the  church  to  take  sides,  and  for  the  reason 
that  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  at  all  the  facts  so  as  to  fully  understand  the 
case,  and  because  both  parties  are  usually  to  blame,  and  because  the  mission 
of  the  church  is  not  to  settle  disputes  of  this  kind,  but  to  proclaim  moral 
and  spiritual  truth.  ...  Of  course  there  may  be  cases  where  the  outrage 
of  justice  is  so  apparent,  where  the  moral  fault  is  so  clear,  where  the  com- 
munity is  so  aroused  that  the  church  is  not  only  warranted  but  where  it 
is  in  duty  bound,  to  denounce  the  evil,  and  affirm  what  should  be  done  in 
the  matter.  In  other  instances,  where  the  merits  of  the  case  are  doubtful, 
or  where  the  regular  order  of  business  has  been  followed,  the  church  should 
content  itself  in  declaring  that  principles  of  honesty,  justice,  and  brother- 
hood should  pertain  in  the  industrial  world  without  making  specific  appli- 
cation to  a  particular  dispute  or  difficulty.  Or  if  it  speaks  more  specifi- 
cally, it  can  urge  consideration  and  kindness  on  the  part  of  both  classes, 
It  can  emphasize  the  need  of  fair  and  honest  pondering  of  the  other's 
position,  and  can  counsel  justice.  It  can  bring  into  men's  minds  the  fact 
that  the  relations  of  men  in  business  are  not  simply  economic,  but  that 
we  are  each  our  brother's  keeper  and  must  consider  our  brother's  interests. 
Thus  the  church  may  become  a  peacemaker  in  human  society.  She 
may  help  settle  conflicts  and  bring  the  conflicting  elements  together  by 
trying  to  get  each  side  to  act  on  Christian  principles." — Plantz:  TJie 
Church  and  the  Social  Problem,  pp.  265-267. 

The  Question  for  Discussion.  If  a  man  joins  a  strike  for  higher  wages, 
is  it  right  for  another  man  to  take  his  job  at  the  wages  offered? 

The  following  consideration  will  throw  some  light  on  this  question: 
"  The  right  to  employment  is  now  in  the  process  of  evolution.  Unless 
that  right  is  added  to  the  others,  the  right  to  life  and  liberty  remains  a 
fragmentary  right  so  far  as  the  workingman  is  concerned.  The  business 
class  have  fought  for  and  secured  for  themselves  the  '  freedom  of  industry,' 
which  meant  the  right  to  have  free  access  to  nature  and  to  produce  wealth 


124  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

by  manufacture  and  commerce.  That  right  is  valueless  to  the  working- 
man  under  modern  conditions;  his  form  of  the  same  right  is  the  right  to 
a  job. 

"  The  moral  instinct  of  the  workingmen  has  long  come  to  recognize 
this  new  right  as  among  themselves.  A  man  who  does  another  out  of* 
nis  job  arouses  the  same  moral  indignation  among  his  fellows  which  a 
man  who  removes  landmarks  or  shifts  a  line-fence  would  arouse  among 
farmers.  '  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's  house,  nor  his  ox,  nor  his 
ass,'  was  a  demand  for  security  of  property  and  income  under  agricultural 
conditions.  *  Thou  shalt  not  take  thy  neighbor's  job,'  is  the  modern 
industrial  equivalent  for  it.  Employers,  ministers,  and  other  middle- 
class  people  have  often  misunderstood  the  ethical  attitude  of  organized 
labor  because  they  have  failed  to  understand  that  the  workingmen  regard 
a  job  as  a  property  right.  Many  actions  for  which  we  have  most  severely 
condemned  them  were  warped  efforts  to  establish  a  higher  code  of  ethics 
under  adverse  conditions." — Rauschenbusch :  Christianizing  the  Social 
Order,  p.  348. 


Lesson  43.    THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  WELFARE  OF 
WAGE  EARNERS. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.     To    awaken    an    intelligent    and    sympathetic 

Christian  interest  in  the  problem  of  giving  wage  earners  a  larger  chance 

to  live. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

The  literature  bearing  on  the  relation  of  the  church  to  the  working 
classes  is  abundant,  and  constantly  increasing.  The  religious  press  is 
somewhat  interested  in  the  matter,  and  contains  frequent  articles  dis- 
cussing it.  Back  numbers  of  The  Survey  will  give  much  information  re- 
specting it. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  The  next  lesson  on  the  relation  of  the  church  to 
race  antagonism  opens  up  a  field  of  vital  interest  in  certain  parts  of  the 
country.  Where  the  population  is  almost  wholly  of  one  race,  a  sprink- 
ling from  one  or  two  other  races  usually  causes  no  trouble.  In  proportion 
as  the  alien  races  become  more  numerous  the  antagonism  is  likely  to  be- 
come more  acute. 

Ask  some  member  of  the  class  to  prepare  a  brief  paper  on  the  approx- 
imate number  of  representatives  of  other  races  in  your  community,  and 
the  prevailing  attitude  toward  them. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {1)  History  confirms  the  statement  that 
religion  flourishes  best  when  the  people  enjoy  some  measure  of  material 
prosperity.  "  Our  Lord  Himself  found  His  first  disciples,  not  in  a  hungry 
and  ragged  community,  biit  amid  the  prosperity  and  opulence  of  Galilee. 
They  left  all  to  follow  Him  and  achieved  their  ministry  in  poverty  and 
persecution,  but  they  brought  to  that  ministry  the  force  of  minds  and 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  4S  125 

bodies  trained  in  a  very  fertile  land  and  by  a  prosperous  commerce.  Paul, 
in  his  apostolate,  sustained  himself  by  the  labor  of  his  hands,  but  he  was 
the  child  of  a  rich  civilization  and  the  citizen  of  a  great  empire.  The 
Reformation  was  preceded  by  the  Renaissance,  and  on  the  Continent  of 
Europe  drew  its  forces,  not  from  the  enslaved  and  impoverished  popula- 
tions of  Italy  and  Southern  Austria,  but  from  the  large  civic  and  com- 
mercial centers  of  Germany.  .  .  .  Wesley's  great  revival  of  religion  among 
the  laboring  classes  of  England  took  place  at  a  time  when  prices  were  far 
lower  than  in  the  previous  century,  wages  had  slightly  risen  and  '  most 
laborers  were  small  occupiers;  there  was  therefore  in  the  comparative 
plenty  of  the  time  an  opening  for  a  religious  movement  among  the  poor, 
and  Wesley  was  equal  to  the  occasion  '.  ...  The  great  missionary 
movement  of  the  nineteenth  century  is  contemporaneous  with  the  enor- 
mous advance  of  our  commerce." —  G.  A.  Smith:  The  Book  of  the  Twelve 
Prophets,  vol.  II.  pp.  425,  426. 

(4)  The  power  of  publicity  in  procuring  concessions  from  obstinate 
mill  owners  is  illustrated  in  a  strike  by  the  cotton  spinners  in  the  New  York 
Mills  in  March,  1912. 

Repeated  attempts  to  induce  the  officials  of  the  company  to  meet  a 
cc«nmittee  of  the  men  to  discuss  grievances  had  failed.  Finally,  in  April, 
Commissioner  Williams  served  notice  on  the  miU  owners,  that  unless  they 
made  announcement  through  the  press  of  their  willingness  to  meet  their 
employees,  and  to  fix  a  time  and  place  for  such  a  meeting,  he  would  at  once 
begin  a  public  investigation  of  the  strike.  As  this  was  precisely  what  the 
owners  did  not  want,  they  yielded  at  once  to  the  Commissioner's  threat, 
met  their  employees,  and  after  two  conferences  reached  an  adjustment 
satisfactory  to  them. 

(5)  An  investigation  of  the  industrial  conditions  prevailing  in  the 
steel  mills  at  Pittsburgh  revealed  a  state  of  things  in  many  respects  sur- 
prising. The  report  stated  that  "  Twenty  per  cent  of  the  employees, 
or  about  14,000  men  in  Allegheny  county,  worked  twelve  hours  a  day  seven 
days  in  the  week.  Fully  sixty  per  cent  of  all  employees  were  classed  as 
unskilled  and  were  paid  at  the  rate  of  sixteen  and  one-half  cents  an  hour. 
Such  employees,  therefore,  by  working  twelve  hours  a  day,  were  enabled 
to  earn  one  dollar  and  ninety-eight  cents  per  day,  any  reduction  in  time 
involving  a  proportionate  loss  in  wage.  The  high  wages  paid  to  a  relatively 
small  number  of  men  in  positions  of  responsibility  —  three  or  four  per  cent 
getting  over  five  dollars  a  day  —  had  heretofore  misled  the  public  as  to  the 
general  scale  of  wages  in  this  particular  industry.  An  investigation  of  the 
living  conditions  showed  that  the  wage  actually  paid  to  unskilled  laborers 
in  the  steel  mills  was  not  a  living  wage;  that  is,  not  a  wage  on  which  a  man 
with  an  average  family  could  live  respectably,  under  decent  sanitary 
conditions  and  with  a  reasonable  degree  of  comfort.  The  investigations 
showed  furthermore  that,  in  precisely  the  regions  where  these  low-paid 
workmen  were  housed,  the  drink  evil  was  at  its  worst  and  the  general 
morality  at  its  lowest.  Saloons  found  this  the  most  profitable  region 
financially.  While  a  fair  proportion  of  workmen  and  their  families  were 
found  resisting  these  influences,  it  was  plain  that  the  drink  evil  and  the 
tendency  of  the  population  to  immorahty  were  connected  with  the  pre- 


126  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

vailing  industrial  and  housing  conditions.  For  most  men  working  twelve 
hours  a  day,  seven  days  in  the  week,  little  is  left  except  lethargy  or  stimu- 
lants. There  was  little  enjoyment  of  life  possible  for  them  except  the 
enjoyment  of  the  senses." 

(6)  In  view  of  what  the  investigation  revealed  in  Pittsburgh  —  a  con- 
dition which  exists  often  to  the  same  extent  in  other  industrial  centers  — 
the  "  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America  calls  the 
attention  of  the  churches  of  Christ  everywhere  to  this  condition  and  the 
menace  involved  in  it,  and  urges  upon  all  Christian  churches  officially, 
through  their  pulpits,  their  brotherhoods  and  various  other  organizations, 
to  emphasize  and  bring  home  to  their  members  their  Christian  obligation 
in  these  premises,  namely,  that  it  is  the  right  of  every  man  to  have  one 
day  out  of  the  seven  for  rest  and  recreation  of  body,  soul  and  mind,  and 
that  it  is  the  obligation  of  every  Christian  employer  so  to  arrange  his 
business  that  each  of  the  employees  may  have  one  day  holiday  in  seven, 
without  diminution'  of  wages.  The  normal  hoHday  is  the  Christian 
Sabbath,  the  Lord's  Day,  but  where  the  conditions  of  industry  or  service 
require  continuance  of  work  seven  days  and  the  consequent  employment 
of  some  part  of  the  employees  on  the  Lord's  Day,  then  those  so  employed 
are  entitled  to  receive  a  holiday  on  some  other  day  in  the  week;  and  further- 
more that  it  is  the  obhgation  of  every  Christian  employer  so  to  arrange 
his  scale  of  wages  that  the  Hving  wage  of  his  employees  is  calculated,  not 
on  a  seven-day,  but  on  a  six-day  basis." 

That  the  workers  themselves  are  heartily  in  favor  of  co-operating  with 
the  churches  for  the  maintenance  in  every  industry  of  a  weekly  day  of 
rest  is  shown  by  the  following  resolution  passed  by  the  American  Federa- 
tion of  Labor: 

"  WHEREAS,  The  Federal  Council  Commission  on  the  Church  and 
Social  Service  are  undertaking  a  nation-wide  campaign  to  secure  for  all 
industrial  workers  one  day's  rest  in  seven,  and 

"  WHEREAS,  The  American  Federation  of  Labor  is  unqualifiedly 
on  record  for  the  same  for  many  years,  and  has  been  efficiently  working 
to  that  end,  therefore  be  it 

"  RESOLVED,  That  we  heartily  appreciate  the  co-operation  of  the 
'  Commission  on  the  Church  and  Social  Service  '  to  the  end  of  securing 
the  one  day's  rest  in  seven,  and  pledge  to  the  Commission,  arid  to  all 
others  who  may  assist  in  this  work  our  hearty  and  earnest  assistance." 

(9)  The  following  is  the  social  creed  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Fed- 
eral Council  of  Churches  of  Christ  in  America  at  the  quadrennial  meeting 
in  Chicago,  December  9,  1912. 

"  The  Churches  must  stand: 

"  1.  For  equal  rights  and  complete  justice  for  all  men  in  all  stations  of 
life. 

"  2.  For  the  protection  of  the  family,  by  the  single  standard  of  purity, 
uniform  divorce  laws,  proper  regulation  of  marriage,  and  proper  housing. 

"  3.  For  the  fullest  possible  development  for  every  child,  especially, 
by  the  provision  of  proper  education  and  recreation. 

"  4-  For  the  abolition  of  child  labor. 

"  5.  For  such  regulation  of  the  conditions  of  toil  for  women  as  shall 
safeguard  the  physical  and  moral  health  of  the  community. 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  J^         '  127 

"  6.  For  the  abatement  and  prevention  of  poverty. 

"  7.  For  the  protection  of  the  individual  and  society  from  the  social, 
economic,  and  moral  waste  of  the  liquor  traffic. 

"  8.  For  the  conservation  of  health. 

"  9.  For  the  protection  of  the  worker  from  dangerous  machinery, 
occupational  diseases,  and  mortality. 

"  10.  For  the  right  of  all  men  to  the  opportunity  for  self-maintenance, 
for  safeguarding  this  right  against  encroachments  of  every  kind,  and  for 
the  protection  of  workers  from  the  hardships  of  enforced  unemployment. 

"  ii.  For  the  suitable  provision  for  the  old  age  of  the  workers,  and  for 
those  incapacitated  by  injury. 

''12.  For  the  right  of  employees  and  employers  alike  to  organize  for 
adequate  means  of  conciHation  and   arbitration  in  industrial  disputes. 

"  IS.  For  a  release  from  employment  one  day  in  seven. 

"  IJ^.  For  the  gradual  and  reasonable  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  to 
the  lowest  practicable  point,  and  for  that  degree  of  leisure  for  all  which 
is  a  condition  of  the  highest  human  life. 

''15.  For  a  living  wage  as  a  minimum  in  every  industry,  and  for  the 
highest  wage  that  each  industry  can  afford. 

"  16.  For  a  new  emphasis  upon  the  appHcation  of  Christian  principles 
to  the  acquisition  and  use  of  property  and  for  the  most  equitable  division 
of  the  product  of  industry  that  can  ultimately  be  devised," 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.  What  can  our  own  church  do  to 
promote  the  welfare  of  wage  earners? 

This  question  is  designed  to  arouse  the  attention  of  the  class  to  the 
social  service  rendered  by  its  own  church,  and  must  be  answered  from  a 
knowledge  of  the  condition  of  the  church  itself  and  of  the  needs  of  the 
surrounding  community. 


Lesson  44.    THE  CHURCH  AND  RACE  ANTAGONISMS. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  call  attention  to  certain  of  the  problems 
that  arise  from  the  clashing  of  races,  chiefly  in  our  own  land,  and  to  point 
out  some  ways  in  which  the  churches  may  promote  a  better  feeling. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

Note  that  the  race  hostility  in  this  country  is  directed  chiefly  against 
the  black  and  yellow  races.  Against  the  former  because  of  reasons  closely 
interwoven  with  our  national  history,  and  against  the  latter  chiefly  because 
of  unfavorable  competition  in  labor.  Note  also  that  the  old  prejudice 
against  the  Indians  has  largely  given  way  to  one  of  friendliness  and  social 
equality;  that  this  is  due  to  the  small  surviving  portions  of  the  race  and 
to  the  fact  that  the  Indian  has  never  been  a  competitor  with  the  whites  in 
industrial  pursuits;  and  that  the  hostility  aroused  by  former  wars  has  now 
given  way  to  sympathy  and  helpfulness.  Compare  the  reception  accorded 
by  our  leading  universities  to  a  football  team  of  Indians  from  Carlisle 


128  The  Bible  Sitidy  Union  Lessons 

with  the  attitude  of  the  same  universities  toward  the  mere  suggestion  of 
a  game  with  a  team  from  a  colored  institution.  Since  the  war  the  Htera- 
ture  on  the  race  problems  of  the  United  States  has  become  voluminous. 
In  addition  to  the  books  mentioned  in  the  pupil's  quarterly,  the  Httle 
volume  by  Miss  Ovington,  Half  a  Man,  a  study  of  the  status  of  the  negro 
in  New  York  City,  bringing  out  in  a  forceful  way  the  difficulties  under 
which  the  race  labors,  will  be  helpful.  Among  the  great  number  of  maga- 
zine articles  which  have  appeared  during  the  last  year  (1913),  the  follow- 
ing merit  attention:  "  Adventures  of  a  Near- white,"  Independent,  Aug. 
14;  "Basis  of  Race  Adjustment,"  Survey,  Feb.  1;  "Solving  the  Negro 
Problem  in  Detail,"  Independent,  March  27;  "  Negro  Problem  as  a  South- 
erner Sees  It,"  Forum,  February. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  In  connection  with  the  next  lesson  on  The  Church 
and  Public  Charities,  assign  to  some  member  of  the  class  the  preparation 
of  a  short  statement  of  what  is  being  done  in  your  neighborhood  for  the 
relief  of  the  poor. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {1)  A  writer  in  the  Boston  Herald, 
August  17,  1913,  discusses  at  considerable  length  some  of  his  personal  ex- 
periences with  the  race  issue.  One  effect  of  the  social  disabilities  under 
which  the  negro  race  has  been  placed  is  the  pronounced  ambition  of  those 
individuals,  who  through  several  generations  of  intermarriage  with  whites 
have  become  nearly  white,  to  migrate  into  the  white  ranks.  Even  when 
such  an  effort  succeeds,  it  involves  pathetic  results. 

"  I  had  business  dealings  for  years  with  a  trustworthy  colored  man 
all  of  whose  relatives,  like  himself,  were  very  nearly  white.  ^  One  of  them, 
a  cousin,  regularly  patronized  white  barber  shops,  ate  in  white  restaurants 
and  attended  on  invitation  revivalistic  services  in  white  churches.  This 
man  further  told  me  that  a  brother  of  his,  happening  to  be  a  tint  whiter 
than  the  rest  of  the  family,  had  gone  to  Ontario  to  live  and  there  married. 
The  Washington  man  decided  to  visit  him  on  his  way  home  from  the 
World's  Fair.  Reaching  the  Ontario  town,  where  he  seciu-ed  a  place  in  a 
public  house,  the  Washington  mulatto,  not  being  willing  to  embarrass 
his  brother  who  was  there  passing  as  a  white  man,  went  out  to  his  house 
by  night.  To  avoid  letting  the  white  wife  into  any  secrets  or  suspicions 
as  to  her  husband's  origin,  the  visitor  stood  in  the  yard  and  signalled, 
by  a  vocal  call  of  their  childhood,  for  his  brother  to  come  out.  The 
latter  did  so,  throwing  his  arms  around  the  stranger's  neck  and  kissing 
him.  They  talked  for  two  hours.  The  Washington  man  congratulated 
his  brother  on  the  greatest  of  all  possible  achievements.  The  latter 
accepted  these  feHcitations  as  well  earned.  And,  without  any  further 
revelation,  they  parted.  The  Washington  brother  was  not  taken  into  the 
house,  was  not  introduced  to  the  white  wife  or  allowed  to  see  the  children 
except  by  peering  through  a  window  where  the  curtain  had  been  designedly 
raised.  Pretty  cold  reception!  Pathetic,  after  all!  Both  intelligent  men! 
Both  property -holders  and  well  read!    What  a  barrier  had  been  interposed! 


The  Senior  Teacher — Lesson  44  129 

"  One  trouble  with  this  arrangement  is  the  strange  atavistic  manifesta- 
tions which  sometimes  occur.  Such  a  family  as  this  one  in  Ontario  may 
pass  for  generations  as  white,  when  some  one  child  will  break  out  as  the 
most  unmistakable  negro  that  was  ever  seen.  If  nature  did  not  do  this, 
all  the  races  of  men  would  tend  to  a  complete  and  monotonous  uniformity." 

(4)  Race  antagonisms  arising  from  industrial  competition  within  our 
own  borders  of  alien  races  with  native  workers,  bitter  as  they  may  become, 
are  of  minor  importance  as  compared  with  those  impending  from  the 
introduction  of  our  own  processes  into  foreign  lands.  A  suggestion  in 
this  line  comes  from  Dr.  Josiah  Strong:  "  Not  many  informed  persons, 
indeed,  fear,  at  present  at  least,  war  between  Japan  and  the  United  States 
or  with  other  powers.  Much  less  do  Western  nations  fear  wars  with  China 
or  India,  and  still  less  with  other  races.  But  suppose  Japan,  China,  and 
India  borrow  from  the  Western  world  the  newest  inventions  and  the 
best  machinery,  and  then  use  these  with  their  own  people,  paid  at  the 
very  low  wages  consistent  with  their  low  standard  of  living;  what  will 
become  of  Western  commerce  and  manufacturing,  on  which  today  the 
Western  nations  largely  depend?  Japan  is  doing  this  today,  and  China 
and  India  are  awaking.  It  may  take  the  wisest  statesmanship  and  will 
take  the  highest  Christianity  to  meet  this  conflict." 

(6)  How  slavery  completely  unfitted  the  negroes  for  the  full  exercise 
of  that  citizenship  which  was  thrust  upon  them  after  the  Civil  War  is 
clearly  shown  by  Commons,  Races  and  Immigrants  in  America,  pp.  39-42. 
"  Although  the  negro  races  of  Africa  extend  across  the  continent  from  the 
Sudan  to  Cape  Colony,  yet  the  races  which  yielded  the  largest  supply  of 
slaves  for  America  were  confined  to  a  narrow  stretch  of  the  Atlantic 
coast  near  the  equator,  where  nature  conspires  to  produce  a  race  indolent, 
improvident,  and  discontented.  .  .  .  They  exhibit  aversion  to  silence  and 
solitude,  love  of  rhythm,  excitability,  and  lack  of  reserve.  All  travellers 
speak  of  their  impulsiveness,  strong  sexual  passion,  and  lack  of  will 
power.  .  .  . 

"  In  shifting  such  a  people  from  the  torrid  climate  of  equatorial  Africa 
to  the  temperate  regions  of  America,  and  from  an  environment  of  savagery 
to  one  of  civilization,  changes  more  momentous  than  those  of  any  other 
migration  have  occurred.  First,  it  was  only  the  strongest  physical  speci- 
mens who  survived  the  horrible  tests  of  the  slave  catcher  and  the  slave 
ship.  Slavery,  too,  as  a  system,  could  use  to  the  best  advantage  those 
who  were  docile  and  hardy,  and  not  those  who  were  independent  and 
feeble.  Just  as  in  the  many  thousand  years  of  man's  domestication  of 
animals,  the  breechy  cow  and  the  balky  horse  have  been  almost  eliminated 
by  artificial  selection,  so  slavery  tended  to  transform  the  savage  by  elimi- 
nating those  who  were  self-willed,  ambitious,  and  possessed  of  individual 
initiative.  Other  races  of  immigrants,  by  contact  with  our  institutions, 
have  been  civilized  —  the  negro  has  been  only  domesticated.  Democratic 
civilization  offers  an  outlet  for  those  who  are  morally  and  intellectually 
vigorous  enough  to  break  away  from  the  stolid  mass  of  their  feUows; 
domestication  dreads  and  suppresses  them  as  dangerous  rebels.  The 
very  qualities  of  intelligence  and  manliness  which  are  essential  for  citizen- 
ship in  a  democracy  were  systematically  expunged  from  the  negro  race 
through  two  hundred  years  of  slavery.  And  then,  by  the  cataclysm  of  a 
war  in  which  it  took  no  part,  this  race,  after  many  thousand  years  of 


130  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

savagery  and  two  centuries  of  slavery,  was  suddenly  let  loose  into  the 
liberty  of  citizenship  and  the  electoral  suffrage.  The  world  never  before 
had  seen  such  a  triumph  of  dogmatism  and  partisanship.  It  was  dogma- 
tism, because  a  theory  of  abstract  equality  and  inalienable  rights  of  man 
took  the  place  of  education  and  the  slow  evolution  of  moral  character. 
It  was  partisanship,  because  a  political  party,  taking  advantage  of  its 
triumph  in  civil  war,  sought  to  perpetuate  itself  through  the  votes  of  its 
helpless  beneficiaries.  No  wonder  that  this  fateful  alliance  of  doctrinaries 
and  partisans  brought  fateful  results,  and  that  after  a  generation  of 
anarchy  and  race  hatred,  the  more  fundamental  task  of  education  has 
only  just  begun." 

(7)  The  vital  necessity  of  the  negro  race  in  this  country  making  itself 
financially  independent  is  well  stated  by  Sir  Harry  H.  Johnson  in  a  recent 
volume  on  The  Negro  in  the  New  World,  pp.  xi,  xii.  "If  he  [the  negro] 
is  not  content  with  a  position  against  which  the  Jew  has  chafed  from  300 
B.  C.  to  the  Russian  Pogroms  of  1905  A.  D.,  he  will  determine  to  do  as  the 
Jew  has  done :  make  plenty  of  money.  Money  solves  all  human  difficulties. 
It  will  bring  you  love  and  respect,  power  and  social  standing.  .  .  . 

"  The  one  undoubted  solution  of  the  negro's  difficulties  throughout 
the  world  is  to  turn  his  strong  arm  and  sturdy  legs,  his  fine  sight,  subtle 
hearing,  deft  fingers  and  rapidly  developing  brain  to  the  making  of  money, 
money  being  indeed  but  transmuted  intellect  and  work,  accumulated 
energy  and  purpose.  And  his  leaders,  his  pastors  and  teachers,  should 
direct  his  and  their  attention  to  questions  that  are  really  vital :  to  theories 
and  practices  of  disease  —  prevention  and  cure;  to  the  correlation  of  intes- 
tinal worms  and  sanitary  reform;  to  the  inculcation  of  the  chemistry  of 
nature,  of  practical  agriculture,  of  beautiful  horticulture,  sound  building, 
modern  history,  modern  science,  modern  languages,  modern  religion,  and 
modern  temperance  in  eating,  love-making,  and  public  oratory." 

{9)  "What  the  church  cannot  do:  (a)  It  cannot  undo  the  past.  It 
cannot  change  the  facts  of  negro  heredity  nor  of  his  present  state  of 
development.  It  cannot  undo  the  fact  that  he  was  enslaved,  nor  that  he 
has  been  given  the  suffrage.  It  cannot  undo  the  mistakes  nor  wrongs 
that  the  churches  of  the  past  have  committed,  {h)  The  church  cannot 
expect  nor  wisely  work  for  sudden  and  wholesale  changes.  The  negro 
race  cannot  be  exported  as  a  race  to  Liberia,  or  elsewhere.  It  cannot  be 
educated  or  trained  in  a  day,  and  therefore  cannot  be  treated  as  though 
it  were  educated  and  trained.  The  church  cannot  ignore  the  fact  of 
race  prejudices,  inherited,  deep-rooted,  developed  by  circumstances  to 
which  the  negro,  the  whites  of  the  South,  and  the  whites  of  the  North 
have  all  contributed,  (c)  The  church  cannot  leave  the  problem  alone  for 
time  to  solve.  In  some  forms  race  hostility  in  the  South  is  on  the  increase 
and  some  forms  of  negro  immorality  and  degeneracy  are  growing." —  Josiah 
Strong. 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.  The  abolitionists  before  the 
war  were  often  asked  if  they  wanted  their  sisters  to  marry  negroes.  The 
same  question  is  asked  today  in  the  South  of  those  who  propose  social 
and  poHtical  rights  for  negroes.     How  would  you  answer  it? 

The  writer  of  the  article  quoted  above  from  the  Boston  Herald  says: 
"  This  rejoinder  has  been  held  up  to  the  world  as  the  highwater  mark  of 
idiocy,  as  if  there  were  no  intermediate  stage  between  being  one's  slave 
and  being  one's  brother-in-law. 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  ^^5  131 

"  The  South  asks;the  same  question  today  if  it  is  proposed  that  the 
negro  sit  on  juries  with  white  men,  ride  in  Pullman  cars  and  eat  in  restau- 
rants and  cafes  with  him.  And  in  answer  we  of  the  North  customarily 
say  that  this  is  very  illogical  and  even  idiotic;  but  practically,  I  believe, 
there  is  a  much  closer  connection  than  Northern  people  think.  I  get  this 
impression  from  the  case  of  a  Northern  white  woman,  whom  I  know,  who 
had  married  a  negro  and  whose  children  were  growing  up  with  all  the 
handicaps  which  that  ancestry  imposed.  If  she  had  been  brought  up  in 
South  Carolina,  she  would  have  been  so  terrified  by  the  severities  inflicted 
on  the  negro  that  when  he  assumed  an  attitude  approaching  social  equality, 
she  would  have  been  instantly  repelled.  The  Northern  point  of  view  had 
not  been  for  her  a  sufficient  warning  against  marrying  a  negro." 


Lesson  45.    THE  CHURCH  AND  PUBLIC  CHARITIES. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  call  attention  to  the  need  of  organized  work, 
and  the  share  which  can  properly  be  assumed  by  the  churches. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

The  literature  relating  to  the  problems  raised  by  increasing  poverty 
has  become  very  abundant  in  recent  years,  especially  in  Great  Britain 
where  the  conditions  are  so  grave  as  to  have  caused  vast  distress  among 
the  poor,  and  to  become  a  tremendous  burden  on  society.  The  pressure 
of  poverty  is  not  so  severe  in  this  country,  but  here,  too,  the  situation  has 
attracted  widespread  attention  among  social  workers.  Every  city  has 
its  Department  of  Charities  and  Correction,  and  every  town  has  its  over- 
seers of  the  poor.  Books,  magazine  articles,  and  newspaper  discussions 
relating  to  the  subject  are  plentiful.  In  addition  to  the  books  mentioned 
in  the  pupil's  lesson  the  following  will  be  found  helpful  if  within  reach: 
Friendly  Visiting  among  the  Poor,  1899,  by  Mary  E.  Richmond,  then 
general  secretary  of  the  Charity  Organization  Society  in  Baltimore; 
The  Practice  of  Charity,  1901,  by  Edward  T.  Divine,  general  secretary  of 
the  New  York  society;  and  American  Charities,  by  A.  G.  Warner,  Secretary 
of  the  Board  of  Charities  in  Washington,  D.C. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  The  next  lesson  will  discuss  Recent  Phases  of  the 
Liquor  Question. 

Suggest  that  brief  papers  on  "  The  Effect  on  the  Temperance  Movement 
of  Giving  Votes  to  Women  "  be  prepared,  one  by  a  member  of  the  class 
who  favors  Suffrage,  and  the  other  by  an  "  Anti,"  if  such  an  one  can  be 
found. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  (5)  Innumerable  instances  might  be 
quoted  showing  how  the  administration  of  doles,  soup-tickets,  orders  for 


132  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

groceries,  coal,  etc.,  either  accomplish  no  permanent  good,  or  do  more 
harm  than  good.  The  following  illustrations  are  quoted  from  Mrs. 
Bosanquet's  book,  Rich  and  Poor,  pp.  200,  206. 

"  In  a  report  dealing  with  a  poor  and  populous  district  of  London 
stands  written  — • '  District  Visiting  Society :  600  families  relieved :  £60 
15s.'  It  would  be  a  pleasing  discovery  to  find  that  600  poor  and  worthy 
families  have  been  really  reUeved  by  the  modest  expenditure  of  £60  15s. 
or  2s.  per  family.  Families  in  such  districts  are  often  large,  with  as  many 
as  five,  six  and  seven  children.  If,  however,  we  take  only  two  children 
as  the  average,  a  simple  sum  will  show  that  2400  of  our  fellow  creatures 
in  distress  were  relieved  for  sixpence  each." 

"  Only  today  I  came  across  a  family  where  the  father  periodically 
deserts  his  wife,  and  leaves  her  to  keep  things  together  as  best  she  may 
in  his  absence.  She  does  this  by  making  match-boxes  at  2d.  a  gross,  and 
says  she  could  never  get  along  but  for  the  tickets  and  other  doles  which 
she  receives;  one  child  helps  her  in  her  miserable  work;  another,  a  sturdy 
girl  of  eighteen,  shares  her  father's  irresponsible  spirit,  and  when  asked  why 
she  does  not  get  better  work,  says  she  '  s' poses  the  fact  is  she  don't  care' 
to.'  But  for  the  mistaken  charity  which  keeps  them  half -starved,  the 
woman,  who  is  in  wretched  health,  would  go  into  the  infirmary,  the  girls 
would  go  to  respectable  work,  and  the  guardians  w^ould  force  the  man 
to  contribute  to  his  wife's  maintenance.  In  many  cases  the  mere  knowl- 
edge that  the  home  would  be  broken  up  without  him  would  keep  the  man 
to  his  duty." 

Further  illustrations  of  the  demoralizing  efifect  of  indiscriminate  charity 
are  given  in  the  following  statement:  "Several  years  ago  a  man  in  Port- 
land, Maine,  made  a  standing  offer  to  give  a  barrel  of  flour  to  every  poor 
family  that  could  prove  that  its  poverty  was  not  the  result  of  dissipation, 
laziness  or  vice.  No  barrels  of  flour  were  applied  for.  Something  the 
same  seems  to  be  the  result  of  the  attempts  to  provide  work  for  the  scores 
of  thousands  of  unemployed  men  on  the  Pacific  coast.  San  Francisco 
offered  work  to  15,000  men  who  were  out  of  a  job.  Only  800  accepted  the 
offer.  At  Portland,  Oregon,  500  men  who  were  being  supported  by  the 
city  were  offered  work,  but  only  worked  long  enough  to  earn  $1.50.  All 
the  rest  refused  to  support  themselves  when  given  a  chance.  The  writer 
has  investigated  scores  of  cases  of  men  who  begged  for  help,  saying  that 
they  could  not  get  work,  but  never  found  one  who  would  work  if  given  a 
chance.  The  conclusion  is  that  of  the  thousands  on  the  Pacific  coast  who 
are  classed  as  unemployed  few  are  deserving  of  help.  Almost  all  would 
rather  join  the  free  bread  line  than  take  a  steady  job.  But  the  few  deserv- 
ing ones  make  it  imperative  that  all  unemployed  should  not  be  put  in  the 
same  class,  and  that  conditions  should  be  made  so  that  all  who  w^ill  work 
shall  have  an  opportunity  to  support  themselves." 

{6)  How  a  system  of  relief  designed  to  help  the  multitudes  who  were 
affected  by  the  industrial  revolution  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century  in  England  really  worked  enormous  harm  is  told  by  Ely,  Outlines  of 
Economics,  p.  331 :  "  An  allowance  was  given  to  each  laborer  in  proportion 
to  the  size  of  his  family.  If  he  earned  enough  to  meet  the  legal  require- 
ments he  received  nothing.  If  he  earned  less  the  balance  was  paid  by  the 
community.  If  he  was  out  of  work  the  community  paid  his  wages,  etc. 
Now,  it  seems  just  that  a  man  should  be  guaranteed  a  minimum  income  by 


The  Senior  Teacher  ■ —  Lesson  45  133 

society;  but  what  was  the  result?  The  measure  was  supported  both  by 
employers  and  employees.  The  employer  could  now  cut  wages  without 
resistance  on  the  part  of  employee.  The  men  could  live  whether  they 
worked  or  not.  The  wage-earning  population  became,  it  is  said,  muanous 
and  rebellious,  intimidating  the  overseer.  Poor  rates  became  so  heavy 
that  it  is  said  that  some  landowners  abandoned  their  farms  rather  than 
pay  the  taxes.  The  law  was  long  ago  repealed,  but  the  mischief  it  had 
wrought  is  by  no  means  eradicated  yet." 

(7)  "  Charity  sadly  needs  organizing.  Far  too  many  people  are  corn- 
peting  in  good  works  who  ought  to  be  uniting  their  efforts.  If  they  would 
only  meet  and  form  plans  to  co-operate,  things  might  be  done  more  thor- 
oughly and  many  more  sufferers  might  be  helped.  ...  If  in  so  many  cases 
it  is  found  on  investigation  that  the  applicants  for  aid  are  unsatisfactory, 
or  that  nothing  can  be  done,  that  in  itself  would  be  a  justification  of  the 
expense  of  the  organization.  A  shilling  spent  in  inquiry  often  saves  a 
pound  that  would  have  been  wasted  in  wrong  treatment,  or  would  have 
gone,  perhaps,  merely  to  encourage  drunkenness  and  idleness.  .  .  .  The 
best  cases  are  those  where  no  money  at  all  is  required,  just  as  it  is  best  if 
a  doctor  can  cure  his  patients  without  giving  them  medicine.  When 
people  can  be  set  up  and  helped  through  their  difficulties  without  money 
help,  it  is  so  much  better."— Rogers:  Circumstances  or  Character?  pp. 
194-197. 

{10)  '*  There  would  be  an  enormous  advantage  in  separating  relief  from 
religion.  .  .  .  The  apphcants  for  help  would  not  reaUze  that  the  money 
came  from  the  church,  and  all  temptation  to  hypocrisy  would  be  removed. 
If  once  this  heavy  mass  of  obstruction  were  done  away  with,  and  the 
false  conception  of  the  church's  work  were  cleared  from  men's  mmds,  the 
path  would  be  open  for  the  fulfilment  of  her  true  spiritual  mission.  More- 
over, charity  administered  carefully,  and  based  on  the  principles  of  Christ 
Himself,  would  by  seeking  the  cure  of  distress  in  strengthening  char- 
acter, in  time  so  raise  the  whole  tone  of  a  neighborhood  that  rehgion 
would  find  a  readier  response  to  its  appeal,  and  church-going  would  increase, 
not  as  a  disagreeable  duty  necessary  as  a  means  of  qualifying  for  social 
advantages,  but  as  the  expression  of  a  deeper  and  better  life. 

"  In  her  social  influence,  too,  the  church  would  be  strengthened.  Where 
there  is  no  suspicion  of  pauperizing,  competition  and  overlapping  of 
agencies,  instead  of  rivalling  one  another  in  demoralizing,  would  seldom 
do  harm,  and  would  usually  work  to  strengthen  the  moral  sense.  People 
would  be  far  more  ready  to  ask  advice  and  far  more  straightforward; 
and  the  church,  in  coming  into  real  touch  with  the  difficulties  and  ideals 
of  masses  of  men,  would  cease  to  beat  the  air,  and  would  get  into  grip 
with  the  real  problems  of  life  and  conduct."— Rogers:  Charitable  Relief, 
pp.  174,  175. 

The  Question  for  Discussion.  Why  is  hospital  work  the  best  form  of 
pubhc  charity  that  can  be  undertaken  by  churches? 

The  necessity  for  a  point  of  contact  between  the  churches  and  organ- 
ized philanthropy  appears  in  the  denominational  hospitals  already  erected 
in  many  cities.  Their  importance  is  well  stated  by  The  Interior:  "  No- 
where else  can  the  church  infuse  the  religious  inspiration  so  directly  into 
popular  philanthropy,  and  nowhere  else  can  it  serve  so  successfully  the  needs 
of  the  unfortunate.  General  relief  of  poverty  in  the  community  the  churches 
cannot  so  well  undertake,  because  the  nature  of  the  work  requires  that 


134  The  Bible  Sttidy  Union  Lessons 

it  shall  be  unified  under  a  single  agency  of  a  semi-municipal  character, 
lest  duplication  cause  tangles  in  which  pauperizing  fraud  will  flourish. 
But  hospital  work  is  different,  for  there  is  no  possibility  that  it  can  be 
overdone;  the  provision  will  not  outrun  the  need  of  it,  even  if  every  denom- 
ination in  the  great  centers  of  population  should  take  part  in  it.  Every- 
body may  enter  this  field  without  peril  of  interfering  with  the  good  anybody 
else  is  doing.  And  on  the  side  of  the  churches  no  activity  is  more  befitting, 
for  the  hospital  expresses  Christ's  healing  ministry  with  a  convincingness 
that  the  modern  church  attains  in  no  other  fashion.  No  congregation  of 
Christians  should  be  content,  even  in  one  of  the  smaller  cities,  to  live  along 
without  including  in  its  program  some  sort  of  hospital  work  or  the  most 
feasible  local  equivalent  therefor.  In  larger  cities  each  denomination 
should  have  its  hospital,  or  allied  groups  of  denominations  should  go 
jointly  into  the  work.  Denominational  activity  —  even  rivalry  —  may 
be  unlimitedly  urged  here,  for  there  is  no  possibility  of  running  a  hospital, 
wittingly  or  unwittingly,  in  a  sectarian  fashion." 


Lesson  46.    RECENT  PHASES   OF  THE  LIQUOR 
QUESTION. 

f  Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  point  out  some  of  the  lines  along  which 
the  temperance  reform  is  moving,  and  to  emphasize  the  duty  of  every 
citizen  to  assist  in  promoting  it. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

Of  the  books  recommended  in  the  Additional  Reading  References  the 
two  by  Barker  and  Warner  are  likely  to  be  of  greatest  service  to  the  teacher. 
Both  are  inexpensive  and  recent,  and  cover  the  Hquor  question  from 
rational,  sane  and  scientific  points  of  view.  This  lesson  purposely  avoids 
illustrations  of  the  havoc  wrought  by  the  liquor  traffic  in  personal  and 
domestic  life,  as  these  are  sufficiently  familiar.  It  seeks  to  emphasize 
rather  those  broader  relations  of  the  traffic  to  the  economic  welfare  of  the 
community  and  the  nation.  The  teacher  will  have  no  difficulty  in  finding 
literature  bearing  on  the  subject,  which  for  nearly  a  century  has  formed 
the  chief  social  problem  with  which  the  churches  have  grappled. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  The  next  lesson  discusses  modern  methods  of  deal- 
ing with  juvenile  lawbreakers.  A  short  sketch  of  the  work  of  Judge 
Ben  B.  Lindsey  in  the  Juvenile  Court,  Denver,  would  rove  interesting 
if  presented  by  some  member  of  the  class. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  (4)  It  is  frequently  argued  that  the 
revenue  derived  from  the  saloons  is  a  good  investment  for  towns  and 
cities.  Those  who  argue  so  are  blind  to  the  fact  that  "  owing  to  the  crime, 
depredations,  and  social  disorder  growing  out  of  the  saloon,  an  additional 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  1^6  135 

police  force  is  required,  more  arrests  are  made,  and  jail  and  court  expenses 
are  multiplied.  Almshouses,  asylums,  and  public  charities  naturally 
follow  in  the  wake.  All  these  increase  the  taxes  and  deplete  the  resources 
of  a  community.  Numerous  concrete  facts  and  reliable  statements  might 
be  given  to  refute  the  specious  argument  that  saloons  benefit  a  community. 
.  .  .  The  mayor  of  Fargo,  North  Dakota,  recently  said,  '  Since  the  forty 
saloons  were  driven  out  of  the  city  it  has  prospered  far  better  than  it  ever 
did  before.  Instead  of  being  depopulized,  it  has  more  than  doubled  in 
population  since  the  saloon  left  us.'  The  city  of  Hoopeston,  Illinois,  has 
been  without  a  saloon  since  1887.  The  city  is  very  prosperous,  and  the 
rate  of  taxation  is  but  .013  of  the  actual  valuation.  Note,  again,  that  for 
self-protection  against  the  demoralizing  influences  of  the  many  saloons 
at  Bremerton,  Washington,  in  1902,  the  Navy  Department  decided  to 
send  no  more  warships  for  repairs  to  that  port.  This  action  aroused  the 
people  and  city  authorities  to  banish  the  saloons  and  to  pledge  the  govern- 
ment that  the  law  would  be  faithfully  enforced.  .  .  .  Indeed,  in  no  sense 
is  the  revenue  from  the  saloons  an  asset  over  against  the  social  misery 
and  drunkenness  produced."— Barker:   The  Saloon  Problem,  pp.  17,  18. 

(7)  "  The  influence  of  the  saloon  on  the  social  life  of  the  people  far 
exceeds  in  importance  the  economic  and  political  aspects.  In  the  first 
place,  the  saloon  is  the  enemy  of  society  because  of  the  evil  results  produced 
upon  the  individual.  It  meets  no  legitimate  demand  of  human  nature, 
but  exists  to  excite  an  abnormal  appetite  for  intoxicants.  The  supply  of 
liquor  creates  the  demand,  and  not,  as  in  the  case  of  necessities,  the  demand 
the  supply.  In  a  multitude  of  ways  it  fosters  and  overstimulates  a  thirst 
for  drink.  One  of  its  avowed  purposes  is  to  encourage  the  habit  of  treat- 
ing, and  by  means  of  free  salted  lunches  and  concocted  drinks  provoke 
a  wholly  unnatural  craving  for  intoxicating  liquor.  It  is  this  fact  that 
makes  the  saloon  a  positive  evil,  and  vicious  in  the  highest  degree.  It 
becomes  an  instrument  to  make  a  man  intoxicated,  and  thereby  forms  the 
chief  contributing  cause  towards  discounting  his  value  in  society." —  Ibid. 

"  There  is  no  field  of  preventive  work  that  has  taken  on  such  proportions 
as  that  of  the  temperance  movement.  In  this  movement  the  churches 
are  already  enlisted,  but  there  are  certain  phases  of  service  that  could  be 
well  considered  by  the  people  of  the  community  who  are  dominated  by 
Christian  motives.  Some  people  have  sought  to  justify  the  existence 
of  the  saloon  because  of  its  significance  as  a  social  center  for  a  large 
class  of  people,  who  because  of  their  family  life  or  the  lack  of  it  have 
no  other  place  to  go  for  social  recreation.  Now  there  is  little  hope  of 
succeeding  with  any  large  number  of  those  who  have  already  acquired 
the  drink  habit,  but  it  is  possible  for  us  to  provide  social  centers,  under 
the  auspices  of  the  best  elements  in  the  community,  that  will  be  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  saloon  as  a  rendezvous,  and  at  the  same  time  prevent  the 
acquiring  of  the  habit. 

"  Still  another  phase  of  prevention  work  that  promises  to  count  for 
most  in  my  judgment  is  the  creation  of  the  moral -political  issue  of  the 
abolishing  of  the  saloon  in  such  a  way  that  good  men  and  women  irrespec- 
tive of  any  other  motive  will  be  convinced  that  here  is  an  issue  that  any 
political  party  that  stands  for  good  government  must  adopt.  It  has  been 
largely  the  result  of  such  a  view  that  prohibition  of  the  traffic  has  been 
secured  in  most  of  the  territory  now  dry. 

"  Another  phase  of  prevention  is  represented  by  that  large  number  of 
men  who  want  to  overcome  the  habit  but  have  not  the  social  bond  that 


136  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

will  keep  them  keyed  up  to  resolution  in  the  hour  of  temptation.  ...  In 
every  community  ...  it  would  be  possible  for  a  group  of  young  men 
to  guard  such  a  man  [a  man  who  has  yielded]  in  such  moments  until  his 
psychic  process  is  again  dominated  by  saner  motives. 

"  If  he  were  given  to  spells  of  insanity  his  friends  would  have  guarded 
him;  why  not  in  the  case  of  an  inebriate,  when  the  results  of  conduct  are 
so  disastrous  to  the  family  or  community  both  from  a  moral  and  an 
economic  point  of  view?  Still  another  phase  of  prevention  of  drunken- 
ness is  in  the  study  of  the  causes  which  produce  the  physical  and  nervous 
conditions  which  cause  the  craving  for  stimulants  and  result  in  permanent 
cases  of  inebrity." — Earp:   The  Social  Engineer,  p.  198. 

(9)  The  Council  of  One  Hundred  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  on  November 
14,  1913,  following  the  great  Anti-Saloon  League  Convention,  held  a 
meeting  in  Dr.  Washington  Gladden's  church.  Five  hundred  and  fifty- 
two  men  and  women  from  ninety -six  organizations  agreed  on  a  common 
ground  of  work  for  education  against  alcohol.  Stirring  addresses  en- 
dorsed the  general  program  "as  to  the  selection,  production  and  recom- 
mendation of  the  best  publications  on  the  alcohol  question,  the  systematic 
distribution  of  literature  and  the  organization  of  temperance  study  classes, 
the  holding  of  educational  anti-alcohol  congresses  throughout  the  country, 
and  the  encouragement  of  pledge  signing.  In  addition,  the  resolutions 
recommended  the  compilation  of  reliable  statistics,  promotion  of  public 
school  temperance  instruction  and  the  better  training  of  teachers  to  give 
such  instruction,  emphasis  on  the  relation  of  abstinence  to  business  and 
efficiency  and  health  and  safety,  the  promotion  of  exhibit  and  poster 
work,  of  press  publicity  as  to  facts  about  alcohol,  the  inclusion  of  public 
health  campaigns  of  education  as  to  alcohol's  part  in  producing  disease, 
degeneracy  and  death,  the  development  of  a  plan  similar  to  the  missionary 
educational  movement  for  the  training  of  leaders  in  a  nation  wide  anti- 
alcohol  movement." —  The  Temperance  Cause. 

{10)  An  interesting  and  exceedingly  promising  line  of  temperance  work 
has  been  adopted  by  the  United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor. 

"  This  program  is  being  presented  with  vigor  to  the  unions  and  local 
societies  of  the  whole  country .  The  young  people  are  everywhere  receiv- 
ing the  plan  with  enthusiasm  and  already  the  work  is  definitely  under  way. 
It  will  begin  with  the  very  fundamental  thing,  temperance  education. 
As  nearly  as  possible  every  society  will  be  enlisted  in  a  study  of  the  drink 
question.  Societies  are  being  urged  to  establish  reference  libraries  and  to 
engage  is  pledge-signing  campaigns.  From  time  to  time  special  tasks  in 
research  work  will  be  assigned  through  the  columns  of  The  Christian 
Endeavor  World.  It  is  desired  that  societies  make  a  study  of  local  con- 
ditions, become  informed  as  to  the  duties  of  public  officers,  make  investi- 
gations and  surveys  under  mature  leaders  in  towns,  city  w^ards  and  in 
rural  districts.  The  new  department  of  temperance  and  citizenship 
will  always  co-operate  in  the  fullest  way  with  every  other  temperance  and 
reform  group  in  local,  State  and  national  campaigns  where  there  is  oppor- 
tunity for  united  action  against  the  liquor  evil.  The  declaration  *  A 
Saloonless  Nation  by  1920  '  is  a  real  war  declaration,  and  if  its  ambition 
is  to  become  a  fact  in  government,  there  must  be  united  action  against  the 
liquor  traffic." — Ibid. 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  46  137 

The  Question  for  Discussion.  What  is  the  duty  of  each  member  of 
this  class  in  respect  to  the  hquor  question? 

While  this  question  is  designed  to  draw  out  expressions  of  individual 
opinion,  the  following  suggestions  may  be  helpful  in  guiding  the  discussion. 

(i)  Even  if  men  will  have  strong  drink  and  men  sell  liquor,  and  men 
may  die  by  the  thousands,  and  character  be  dismantled,  homes  destroyed, 
and  women  and  children  beggared,  don't  let  it  be  YOUR  vote. 

Even  if  the  victims  of  alcohol  fill  our  jails,  almshouses  and  insane 
asylums,  and  the  saloon  impoverish  and  degrade  the  workingman,  produce 
idleness,  disease  and  pauperism,  and  breed  anarchy  and  crime,  don't  let  it 
be  YOUR  vote. 

Even  if  the  government  may  license  the  drink  traffic  and  for  a  considera- 
tion "  bargain  away  the  public  health  and  the  public  morals,"  don't  let 
it  be  YOUR  vote. 

The  liquor  traffic  may  corrupt  the  s  ocial  and  political  life  of  the  nation, 
may  worm  its  way  into  all  business,  and  even  into  the  sacred  precincts 
of  the  home  and  the  church,  don't  let  it  be  by  YOUR  vote. 

(2)  The  question  is  often  asked,  "  Why  don't  you  Christian  people  mind 
your  own  business  and  let  rum  alone?"  Professor  Forrest  E.  Dager  an- 
swers this  question  in  this  wise:  "  We  can't  let  rum  alone  because  it  is 
always  the  aggressor.  In  the  city  of  Philadelphia  we  had  what  was  called 
the  '  White  Slave  district,'  where  young  girls  were  detained  often  against 
their  will,  where  vice  and  crime  reigned.  Some  said:  '  Let  it  alone; 
it  is  best  to  keep  vice  within  certain  known  bounds.'  But  soon  it  was 
found  that  the  vile  business  was  extending  into  all  parts  of  the  city  and 
dens  of  vice  were  found  adjoining  fashionable  homes.  Was  there  ever 
a  more  misleading  advertisement  than  '  Wilson  whiskey  —  that's  all.' 
You  can  never  know  all  that  is  in  a  bottle  of  whiskey  till  you  get  a  distinct 
view  of  hell." 

(5)_  "  If  it  is  wrong  for  the  individual  to  be  a  saloon  keeper,  it  is  wrong 
for  him  to  consent  to  be  a  pjartner  with  the  civil  government  in  the  liquor 
business.  It  is  impossible  for  the  individual  citizen  to  hide  behind  the 
body  of  the  people  in  whose  name  these  public  evils  are  protected  and 
legalized.  The  body  politic  in  such  cases  is  itself  guilty  of  crime  and  every 
consenting  citizen  is  likewise  guilty." —  Christian  Statesman. 


138  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

Lesson  47.   JUVENILE  LAWBREAKERS. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  awaken  interest  in  and  co-operation  with 
modern  methods  of  treating  juvenile  lawbreakers. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

Probably  the  most  helpful  book  that  the  teacher  can  use  in  preparing 
this  lesson  is  The  Young  Malefactor,  a  Study  in  Juvenile  Delinquency  by 
Thomas  Travis.  Judge  Lindsey's  introduction,  pp.  ix-xxi  is  also  to  the 
point.  The  Making  of  the  Criminal  by  C.  E.  B.  Russell  and  L.  M.  Rigby, 
though  dealing  mainly  with  conditions  in  England,  has  much  valuable 
information  respecting  the  handling  of  the  delinquency  problem  in  other 
countries.  Children's  Courts  in  the  United  States  by  S.  J.  Barrows  gives 
a  full  account  of  the  origin,  development,  and  present  aspect  of  this  import- 
ant department  of  judicial  methods.  If  none  of  these  books  are  obtainable, 
possibly  the  teacher  may  be  able  to  find  copies  of  The  Outlook  for  February 
24,  and  March  17,  1906,  or  of  a  series  of  articles  on  "  The  Just  Judge  " 
(Ben  B.  Lindsey)  in  McClure's  Magazine,  October,  November,  and  Decem- 
ber, 1906.  The  teacher  should  be  prepared  to  show  the  almost  incredible 
cruelty  and  injustice  that  until  recent  times  were  perpetrated  on  child- 
ren in  the  name  of  justice;  and,  by  way  of  contrast,  the  principles  and 
practices  that  have  opened  a  happier  outlook  today  for  multitudes  of 
children  whose  lives  would  have  been  hopelessly  wrecked  less  than  a 
hundred  years  ago. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  The  lesson  for  next  Sunday  follows  up  the  line 
opened  in  this  lesson  by  considering  the  treatment  of  adult  prisoners  and 
the  institutions  in  which  they  are  confined. 

Ask  some  member  of  the  class  to  present  a  short  sketch  of  the  work  of 
John  Howard,  the  prisoners'  friend. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {2)  "  Concerning  the  importance  of 
early  religious  training  there  can  hardly  be  two  views  among  those  who 
seek  to  maintain  high  standards  of  morals  in  social  life.  It  is  the  greatest 
social  problem  of  the  day,  how  the  almost  universal  lack  of  religious  train- 
ing of  children  in  homes  shall  be  made  up  to  the  children.  That  moral 
training  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  maintenance  of  a  good  society  is 
freely  admitted.  But  the  children  of  America  are  not  getting  it,  neither 
in  the  homes  nor  in  the  public  schools,  nor  at  all  adequately  in  Sunday 
schools. 

"  There  is  another  point  in  regard  to  this  matter  which  has  attracted 
the  attention  of  some  practical  students  of  sociology,  and  that  is  the  turn- 
ing out  of  children  and  young  people  from  the  public  schools  without 
knowledge  of  any  trade  or  occupation  which  will  enable  them  to  become 
respectable  self-supporting  citizens.  For  those  young  people  who  continue 
through  the  whole  course  of  the  public  schools,  graduate  from  college  and  a 
proff  igional  school  the  courses  in  the  public  schools  are  admirably  arranged. 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  47  139 

But  only  five  per  cent  do  this,  and  the  other  ninety-five  per  cent,  whenever 
they  drop  out  of  the  schools,  find  themselves  thrown  upon  the  world  with 
no  preparation  for  skilled  self-support.  They  are  therefore  compelled 
to  work  at  cheap  clerical  tasks,  and  the  distaste  for  the  work,  and  the 
inadequacy  of  the  pay  lead  to  crime. 

"  This  condition  of  things  is  absolutely  unnecessary.  It  does  not  exist 
in  Germany.  A  scholar  who  has  passed  the  third  grade  in  the  public 
schools  in  the  Philippines  can  produce  merchantable  articles,  and  is  there- 
fore fitted  to  enter  upon  a  life  of  self-support  if  compelled  to  leave  school 
at  any  time  after  passing  that  low  grade.  It  seems  a  pity  that  in  the 
United  States,  through  blind  adherence  to  a  traditional  classical  policy 
in  our  schools,  we  should  go  on  at  large  expense  training  young  people 
for  what  in  so  large  a  number  of  cases  prove  to  become  criminal  careers. 
Many  cities  and  large  towns  have  already  changed  this  and  ofler  excellent 
training  in  technical  high  schools,  but  there  is  urgent  need  that  the  manual 
training  should  begin  at  lower  grades,  so  that  scholars  leaving  school 
at  the  fifth  or  sixth  grade,  as  they  do,  should  be  fitted  to  become  respect- 
able self-supporting  citizens." —  The  Watchman,  November  23,  1911. 

(7)  "  The  history  of  the  treatment  of  juvenile  delinquency  may  be 
divided  into  two  p  eriods  which  may  be  called  ancient  and  modern.  Chron- 
ologically the  ancient  period  extends  to  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  The  modern  has  its  rise  during  the  period  of  the  industrial 
revolution  and  is  more  or  less  directly  connected  with  the  factory  legisla- 
tion in  favor  of  women  and  children.  Apparently  for  the  first  time  the 
serious  position  of  British  juveniles  compelled  English  law  to  differentiate 
in  favor  of  them.  Before  the  courts  children  were  not  treated  as  adults; 
it  was  recognized  that  they  could  not  make  a  fair  bargain  for  their  labor 
without  protection  from  the  law.  This  beginning,  dealing  with  parish 
children,  dependents,  and  children  in  the  factories,  has  extended  slowly 
until  at  the  present  day  it  covers  all  the  life  of  juveniles  as  far  as  the  law 
is  concerned.  No  child  below  sixteen  is  considered  a  criminal  even  if 
he  ^  has  committed  the  most  criminal  acts.  .  .  . 

"  The  first  step  was  naturally  to  reform  the  prison  buildings,  etc.  The 
property  was  made  much  better,  improved  machinery,  steel  cells  and  the 
like  inaugurated.  But  the  delinquent  was  not  reformed.  Next  comes 
separation  of  juvenile  from  adult  institutions  and  the  development  of  the 
institution  idea.  The  young  offenders  are  gathered  into  huge  '  schools,' 
'  reformatories,'  '  homes,'  and  the  tendency  was  to  make  these  as  big, 
imposing,  and  as  beautiful  as  possible.  .  .  .  The  sterner  are  named 
'  State  homes,'  '  reformatories,'  and  the  like." —  Travis:  The  Young  Male- 
factor, pp.  184  f,  189  f. 

(10)  "  For  practical  purposes  the  [probationl  system  originated  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, where  it  was  first  recognized  by  a  law  passed  in  1878,  and  the 
staff  of  probation  officers  in  that  State  now  amounts  to  some  eighty  per- 
sons, appointed  by  the  judges  for  an  indefinite  period.  In  theory  proba- 
tion there  rests  on  two  principles:  (a)  It  draws  a  distinction  between 
those  who  from  some  definite  cause  —  e.g.  want  of  work,  hunger,  evil 
companionship,  some  strong  and  unusual  temptation  or  sudden  impulse 
of  passion  —  have  transgressed  the  law,  and  those  who  are  of  thoroughly 
vicious  and  criminal  tendencies,  (b)  It  is  a  postponement  of  condemna- 
tion while  an  experiment  is  made  to  ascertain  whether  the  object  of 
rendering  the  accused  a  safe  member  of  society  can  be  attained  without 
punishment.  .  .  . 


140  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

"  The  procedure  in  Massachusetts  is  as  follows.  The  clerk  of  the  Court 
notifies  the  proper  probation-officer  of  each  case  of  a  first  offender ;  he  then 
has  to  make  every  possible  investigation  into  the  circumstances  of  the 
culprit,  and  the  causes  or  motives  of  his  offence.  He  is  present  at  the 
trial,  and  reports  the  results  of  his  inquiries,  and  the  Court,  if  it  find  the 
accused  guilty,  thereupon  considers  whether  he  is  a  fit  subject  for  proba- 
tion, and,  if  he  is,  determines  the  period  during  which  it  shall  be  enforced, 
the  probation-officer  becoming  '  his  bondsman  to  save  him  from  prison.' 
If  he  think  it  desirable,  the  probation-officer  may,  before  the  expiration  of 
the  time  appointed  by  the  Court,  apply  for  an  extension;  .  .  .  The  pro- 
bationer must  write  once  a  month  to  the  officer,  visit  him  or  receive  visits, 
notify  him  immediately  of  any  change  of  address,  and  '  diligently  pursue 
some  lawful  employment.'  If  he  fail  to  fulfil  his  engagements,  and  prove 
unfit  for  freedom,  the  probation-officer  surrenders  him  to  the  Court,  which 
then  condemns  him  on  surer  grounds  than  if  probation  had  not  been 
tried.  .  .  .  No  good  statistics  have  been  kept  of  the  results,  but  appar- 
ently the  successes  may  be  reckoned  at  about  sixty-five  per  cent." — 
Russell  and  Rigby:  The  Making  of  the  Criminal,  pp.  133-136. 
{9)  "  The  aims  of  the  Juvenile  Court  may  be  said  to  be:  (a)  To  keep 
young  offenders  from  the  ordinary  courts  with  their  hardened  criminals 
and  loafers;  (6)  To  enable  the  judge  to  pay  particular  attention  to  each 
case  —  an  impossibility  in  ordinary  courts  with  their  volume  of  business; 
(c)  To  make  investigations  about  an  offender  beforehand  so  as  to  know 
his  or  her  antecedents;  {d)  To  make  punishment  educational  rather  than 
punitive;  {e)  To  sentence  for  indeterminate  periods,  so  as  to  put  the 
offenders  on  their  good  behavior,  and  thus  to  evoke  every  spark  of  honor 
and  manliness  in  their  hearts;  (/)  To  put  children  under  the  watch  and 
guard  of  probation  officers  (men  and  women)  so  far  as  possible  instead  of 
putting  them  in  institutions;  (g)  When  they  must  be  sent  to  institutions 
to  send  the  offenders  to  reformatories  rather  than  to  jails  or  prisions; 
(//.)  To  recognize  the  principles  that  parents,  guardians  and  employers 
are  to  an  extent  responsible  for  the  waywardness  of  their  children  or  wards. 
(Hence,  they  are  often  summoned  before  these  courts,  and  reprimanded, 
fined,  or  placed  on  their  good  behavior.)  These  courts  are  given  unusual 
discretionary  powers  and  a  wide  latitude  of  treatment.  The  underlying 
principle  of  the  IlHnois  Children's  Court,  says  Judge  Tuthill,  is  this: 
That  no  child  under  sixteen  years  of  age  shall  be  treated  as  a  criminal; 
that  a  child  under  that  age  shall  not  be  arrested,  indicted,  convicted, 
imprisoned,   or   punished   as   a   criminal.  .  .  . 

"  Everywhere  they  have  been  a  marked  success.  ...  It  has  been  shown 
that  more  than  half  the  children  who  are  placed  in  the  care  of  qualified 
probation  officers  do  not  need  to  be  brought  again  into  court.  What  this 
means  in  the  saving  of  children  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  exaggerate. 
The  economic  gains  to  the  State  have  been  very  great.  Judge  Lindsey 
in  Denver  showed  that  the  cost  of  criminal  procedure,  jury  fees,  jailor's 
fees,  mileage,  and  support  of  a  boy  if  placed  in  jail,  under  the  old  method, 
was  S839,  or  if  placed  at  an  industrial  school  $1036,  but  that  under  the 
probationary  system  at  a  cost  of  $12  boys  could  be  redeemed  and  made 
good  citizens." —  Josiah  Strong. 

A  work  for  girls  charged  with  delinquency,  similar  to  that  done  for 
boys  by  Judge  Lindsey,  is  carried  on  in  Chicago  by  Judge  Mary  Bartelme. 
She  presides  over  cases  of  girls  brought  before  the  Girl's  Court,  protects 
them  from  publicity,  gives  them  friendly  help  and  in  every  possible  way 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  Ji.S  141 

does  for  them  what  the  Denver  judge  does  for  boys.  This  Girl's  Court 
is  the  last  word  in  this  splendid  movement. 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.  Suppose  a  member  of  your  class 
should  "  borrow  "  a  hundred  dollars  from  his  employer  without  leave, 
and  be  sentenced  for  a  year  to  a  reformatory,  how  would  you  treat  him 
while  he  is  there  and  when  he  returns? 

This  question  is  designed  to  set  the  members  of  the  class  to  thinking  how 
they  would  apply  the  teachings  of  this  lesson  in  a  concrete  case. 


Lesson  48.    PRISONS  AND  PRISONERS. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  awaken  interest  in  modern  reformatory 
methods  in  dealing  with  criminals,  and  a  personal  interest  in  the  criminals 
themselves. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

The  articles  in  Bliss'  Dictionary  of  Social  Reform,  if  obtainable,  will 
furnish  ample  material  for  the  preparation  of  this  lesson,  and  for  further 
study.  The  teacher  shoiild  notice  that  punishment  still  remains  the  main 
purpose  of  the  sentences  imposed  by  the  courts.  When  a  veteran  political 
boss,  for  example,  is  convicted  of  selling  a  judgeship  to  the  highest  bidder, 
and  is  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  a  thousand  dollars  and  to  spend  a  year  in 
prison,  manifestly  the  purpose  of  the  sentence  is  punishment  and  not  ref- 
ormation. Note  for  a  week  in  the  news  columns  of  a  city  newspaper  the 
sentences  imposed  by  the  courts  and  the  reasons  for  them,  and  deter- 
mine as  far  as  possible  how  much  of  the  reformatory  idea  is  revealed  in  them. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 
The  Assignments.     The  enemies  of  the  family  will  be  discussed  in  the 
next  lesson.     Have  some  one  in  the  class  prepare  a  brief  paper  on  the 
reasons  why  so  many  young  people  remain  unmarried,  or  postpone  marriage 
until  middle  life  or  later. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  (5)  "  Imprisonment  must  be  rendered 
disagreeable,  for  purposes  of  deterrence.  In  the  laudable  cult  of  humanity 
this  fact  is  sometimes  lost  sight  of.  Some  who  have  experienced  prison 
life  have  written  in  newspapers  and  reviews  to  complain  of  what  they 
consider  the  scandalous  discomforts  of  prison  life.  After  all,  _  the  pro- 
duction of  discomfort  is  the  raison  d'etre  of  prisons.  If  conditions  were 
thoroughly  comfortable,  the  prisoner  would  enjoy  a  life  far  superior  to 
that  of  the  poor  but  honest  classes  outside,  who  have  to  drudge  for  their 
livelihood  and  suffer  all  sorts  of  privations.  Why  should  the  law-abiding 
proletariat  be  mulcted  in  taxation  to  maintain  anti-social  blackguards 
in  comfort?  There  seems  a  general  tendency  to  look  more  upon  prison 
as  a  reformatory  for  criminals  than  as  a  deterrent.  The  success  of  a 
prison  system  is  supposed  to  be  established  when  it  has  been  shown  that 


142  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

a  large  proportion  of  those  confined  subsequently  become  honest  men.  .  .  . 
But  the  principles  of  deterrence  demand  considerable  severity;  and  it 
would  be  fatal  if  our  zeal  for  reformation  caused  us  to  overlook  the  demands 
of  deterrence.  Enthusiasm  for  the  criminal  must  not  outrun  enthusiasm 
for  the  safety  of  society." —  Condensed  from  H.  S.  R.  Elliott:  LitteWs 
Living  Age,  No.  3506,  p.  715  f. 

(5)  Putting  prisoners  on  their  honor  is  well  illustrated  in  the  following 
extract  from  an  editorial  in  the  Boston  Globe,  June  10,  1912.  "  Each 
successive  experiment  in  treating  convicts  as  if  they  were  human  beings 
proves  satisfactory.  The  lastest  illustration  of  the  efficacy  of  humanity 
and  common  sense  in  dealing  with  convicts  is  afforded  in  the  transfer  of 
twenty-six  men,  unshackled  and  in  the  custody  of  only  two  guards,  a 
distance  of  more  than  two  hundred  miles  from  the  State  Prison  at  Auburn, 
N.  Y.,  to  the  institution  at  Great  Meadow  in  Washington  County. 

"  The  guards  had  no  more  difficulty  in  preserving  order  among  the  men 
than  as  if  they  had  been  so  many  delegates  to  a  peace  convention  or  to  a 
religious  conference.  Not  a  man  tried  to  escape.  They  had  been  put  on 
their  honor  and  they  behaved  like  gentlemen  —  which  no  doubt  some  of 
them  are. 

"  They  were  taken  to  Great  Meadow  a  few  months  before  the  expiration 
of  their  terms  to  recuperate,  after  the  severe  discipline  at  Auburn,  and  to 
prepare  themselves  mentally  and  physically,  by  outdoor  work,  to  resume 
their  places  in  society.     The  Great  Meadow  institution  is  unique. 

"  No  prisoner  is  committed  to  it  directly,  its  population  consisting  of 
first-term  men  transferred  from  other  prisons  who  have  given  evidence 
of  a  disposition  to  reform.  The  work  is  not  too  heavy,  and  the  men  enjoy 
a  large  measure  of  freedom,  which  is  seldom  or  never  abused.  There  is 
invariably  a  great  improvement  in  the  physical  condition  of  the  men  before 
their  final  discharge." 

(8)  "  Under  the  old-fashioned  punitive  system  the  idea  was  to  grade 
crimes  and  grade  punishments  to  fit  them  w^hich  would  make  the  offender 
suffer  enough  so  that  he  would  not  dare  to  commit  that  offence  again. 
Under  the  modern  reformative  system  an  effort  is  made  to  train  him  so 
that  he  will  not  wish  to  commit  crime  again.  .  .  . 

"  The  State  shuts  up  many  of  the  insane  for  much  the  same  reason  that 
it  does  the  criminal  —  that  is,  self-protection  —  and  does  not  release  them 
from  hospitals  and  asylums  until  it  is  thought  that  they  are  cured. 

"  We  believe  that  the  same  rule  should  be  applied  to  a  morally  diseased 
person  who  is  committed  to  a  reformatory,  and  that  he  should  not  be 
allowed  to  go  outside  the  reformatory  building  and  enclosures  until  he  has 
done  something  to  indicate  that  he  may  perhaps  safely  be  restored  to 
society,  and  that  after  his  return  to  society  he  should  continue  on  pro- 
bation under  State  supervision  and  control. 

"  The  so-called  '  indeterminate  '  sentence  aids  in  accomplishing  this 
but  so  long  as  a  maximum  is  fixed  it  is  not  truly  '  indeterminate,'  and  if 
that  maximum  is  short,  its  object  in  many  cases  is  defeated." —  Condensed 
from  Thirteenth  Annual  Report,  1906,  of  the  New  York  State  Reformatory 
at  Elmira. 

{10)  "  One  of  the  most  serious  problems  of  the  day  is  how  to  deal  with 
the  criminal  class.  I  venture  to  say  that  our  present  method  of  dealing 
with  it  is  most  futile,  most  irrational,  and  most  unjust  to  the  community. 
I  have  before  me  an  account  furnished  by  the  Times  of  the  recent  trial  at 
the  London  Sessions,  before  Mr.  Wallace,  of  an  offender  described  as  *  A 


The  Sefiior  Teacher  —  Lesson  48  143 

Modern  Fagin.'  It  was  given  in  evidence  that  the  man  is  a  notorious 
trainer  of  young  thieves:  that  he  had  been  dealt  with  thirty  times,  nine- 
teen times  for  theft  and  eleven  as  an  incorrigible  rogue,  and  that  the 
total  of  the  sentences  of  imprisonment  imposed  upon  him  amounted  to 
thirty-five  years.  ...  He  was  sentenced  to  three  years  penal  servitude! 
So  that  at  the  expiration  of  this  period  this  monster  will  be  let  loose  again 
upon  society.  ... 

"  Common  sense  and  elementary  justice  demand  the  suppression  of  this 
criminal  class  which  is  in  open  revolt  against  society.  A  third  conviction 
at  Assizes  or  Quarter  Sessions  should  result  in  the  offender's  loss  of  liberty 
for  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  should  be  deported  to  some  island  and  reduced 
to  a  state  of  industrial  serfdom,  in  which  he  should  earn  his  own  subsist- 
ence, for  it  would  be  monstrous  that  he  should  be  maintained  at  the  expense 
of  the  community.  Of  course  he  should  be  humanely  treated,  sufficiently 
fed,  not  overworked,  and  provided  with  the  means  of  moral  and  religious 
culture:  but  a  stern  discipline  should  be  enforced.  ... 

"  Let  it  not  be  said  that  this  doom  would  be  hard  upon  him.  What 
he  has  a  right  to  is  justice.  And  it  is  supremely  just  that  one  whose  whole 
existence  has  been  a  perpetual  warfare  against  civilized  society  should 
be  cut  off  from  civilized  society.  It  is  the  righteous  retribution  which 
reason  itself  prescribes.  That  is  its  first  justification.  The  second  _  is 
that  it  would  be  eminently  deterrent.  Nothing  except  his  miserable  life 
is  dearer  to  a  malefactor  than  his  personal  liberty.  The  fear  of  perpetually 
losing  it  would  often  make  him  pause  on  the  threshold  of  a  crime.  Thirdly, 
it  would  render  possible,  as  nothing  else  would,  the  real  reformation  of 
the  habitual  criminal.  It  would  supply  him  with  a  unique  opportunity  of 
self-examination  and  protect  him  for  the  rest  of  his  days  against  the  weU- 
nigh  overwhelming  temptations  of  his  life  of  crime." — W.S.Lilly:  Con- 
densed from  Littell's  Living  Age,  No.  3564,  p.  202  f. 

(11)  How  a  Christian  institution  may  help  in  the  rehabilitation  of  a 
hard  case  is  commented  on  as  follows  in  "  Service,"  August,  1911,  p.  606. 

"  A  young  man  was  brought  before  a  Vermont  judge  recently  on  the 
charge  of  profligacy  and  drunkenness.  He  was  convicted,  and  was  sen- 
tenced by  the  court,  not  to  pay  a  fine  or  go  to  prison,  but  to  the  care  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of  the  town.  The  association  accepted 
the  responsibility  and  is  now  his  legal  guardian.  This  is  evidence  that  we 
have  entered  upon  a  new  era  in  dealing  with  moral  and  social  defectives. 
There  is  no  more  conservative  region  in  the  country  than  the  Green  Moun- 
tain State.  New-fangled  notions  and  social  experiments  are  studied 
with  much  deliberateness  and  thoroughness  before  they  are  adopted. 
We  have  made  less  progress  in  treatment  of  so-called  criminals  than  in 
any  other  direction.  We  still  have  the  criminal  mill  through  which  in  a 
blind,  unreasoning  fashion  the  daily  grist  is  ground.  But  even  in_  this 
sphere  of  our  social  relations  we  are  learning,  and  doing  that  hesitatingly 
which  will  soon  come  to  be  the  common  rule  of  action  —  namely,  to  study 
each  case  separately  and  administer  that  treatment  which  is  most  likely  to 
restore  the  sinner  and  lawbreaker  to  his  home  and  his  community." 

The  Question  for  Class  Discussion.  Should  the  death  penalty  be 
abolished? 

Its  abolishment  is  urged  on  the  ground:  {1)  That  society  has  no  right 
to  take  away  a  life  that  it  has  not  bestowed;  {2)  that  men  are  sometimes 


144  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

executed  whose  innocence  is  afterwards  proved;  (5)  that  capital  punish- 
ment is  not  a  deterrent;  (4)  that  the  criminal  should  be  given  a  chance  to 
reform  and  lead  a  better  life;  {5)  that  no  crime  is  so  foul  as. to  justify  a 
punishment  so  horrible. 

Its  continuance  is  urged  on  the  ground:  (1)  That  one  who  has  dehb- 
erately  and  with  criminal  intent  taken  the  life  of  a  human  being  has  by 
all  law,  divine  and  human,  forfeited  the  right  to  his  own  life;  (2)  that  a 
person  who  has  once  been  so  carried  away  by  sudden  passion  or  strong 
provocation  as  to  kill  another  is  just  as  likely,  nay,  more  likely,  to  repeat 
the  act  if  a  similar  occasion  arises  while  undergoing  a  life  sentence.  Such 
a  person  should  be  removed  from  society  in  the  easiest,  most  effective 
way ;  (3)  that  innocent  persons  have  sometimes  been  executed  is  unfortu- 
nate, but  this  argument  appHes  with  equal  force  against  imposing  any 
judicial  penalty  so  long  as  we  have  fallible  judges  and  juries;  (4)  that 
homicides  are  rarest  in  those  countries  where  capital  punishment  is  most 
strictly  enforced;  (-5)  that  a  murderer  is  most  likely  to  repent  on  facing 
death,  if  he  repents  at  all,  and  that  "  by  executing  him  at  this  auspicious 
moment  he  will  be  relieved  of  the  danger  of  a  moral  relapse,  and  his  soul 
in  consequence  be  given  the  very  best  opportunity  it  is  likely  to  have  of 
getting  into  heaven";  and  (6)  that  the  mental  suffering  concentrated  into 
a  few  days  or  weeks  preceding  execution  is  infinitely  less  and,  on  humane 
grounds,  infinitely  preferable  to  a  torture  that  may  drag  on  for  fifty  years. 


Lesson  49.    ENEMIES   OF  THE  FAMILY. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  note  the  importance  of  the  family  as  the 
foundation  of  all  social  institutions,  and  to  show  how  the  churches  may 
assist  in  protecting  it  from  the  perils  that  now  threaten  its  existence. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

The  teacher  should  note  that  in  addition  to  the  enemies  of  the  family 
mentioned  in  the  lesson  one  of  the  most  frequent  causes  leading  to  its 
disintegration  is  the  inefficiency  of  the  husband  or  the  wife  or  both.  In- 
competency and  shiftlessness  are  as  harmful  to  the  family  as  to  the  indi- 
vidual. Furthermore,  every  vicious  habit  that  makes  the  individual 
intolerable  in  society,  such  as  habitual  drunkenness,  an  ungoverned  temper, 
unreasonable  suspicion  and  jealousy,  makes  him  or  her  still  more  obnoxious 
in  the  family.  A  happy  and  successful  family  life  cannot  be  realized 
except  on  the  basis  of  a  patient  cultivation  of  the  best  qualities  on  either 
side.  Books  that  deal  specifically  with  the  topic  of  the  lesson  are  not 
numerous.     On   the   other   hand   scattered   throughout   magazines   and 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  49  145 

religious  newspapers  the  teacher  will  find  frequent  articles  bearing  on  it. 
Dr.  Devine's  little  book  contains  some  pertinent  material. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  The  next  lesson  is  on  The  Church  and  the  Public 
School.  Ask  a  member  of  the  class  to  report  what  the  law  of  your  State 
requires  or  permits  in  respect  to  the  use  of  the  Bible  and  other  reHgious 
exercises  in  the  public  schools. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {2)  "A  general  survey  of  the  marriage 
laws  and  customs  of  the  Jews  shows  that  they  cannot  be  regarded  as  a 
peculiar  creation,  apart  from  those  of  other  nations.  .  .  .  Anthropological 
researches  have  disclosed  a  wide  general  resemblance  to  the  customs  of 
more  distant  races.  They  have  also  emphasized  the  relative  purity  of 
Old  Testament  sexual  morality;  in  this,  as  in  other  respects,  the  Jews 
had  their  message  for  the  world.  But,  of  course,  we  shall  not  expect  to 
find  there  the  Christian  standard.  '  In  the  beginning  '  represents  not  the 
historical  fact,  but  the  ideal  purpose.  Genesis  2  is  an  allegory  of  what 
marriage  was  intended  to  be,  and  of  what  it  was  understood  to  be  in  the 
best  thought  of  the  nation.  This  ideal  was,  however,  seldom  realized. 
Hence  we  cannot  apply  the  letter  of  the  Bible,  or  go  to  it  for  detailed  rules. 
...  On  the  other  hand,  the  principle  as  expanded  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  clear.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Christian  to  keep  it  steadily  before 
him  as  the  ideal  of  his  own  life.  How  far  that  ideal  can  be  embodied  in 
legislation  and  applied  to  the  community  as  a  whole  must  depend  upon 
social  conditions,  and  the  general  moral  environment." —  Hastings' 
Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  1  vol.  ed.,  p.  587. 

U)  The  family  is  a  community  made  up  of  different  ages  and  sexes, 
with  different  needs  and  responsibilities.  For  this  reason  it  gives  an 
outlet  for  all  good  feelings  and  emotions,  and  furnishes  scope  for  the 
exercise  of  all  benevolent  activities  which  must  largely  lie  dormant  in 
the  individual  who  lives  a  solitary  life.  But,  it  may  be  asked,  "if  all 
we  get  from  family  life  is  this  peculiar  intensification  of  feeling,  and  if 
the  world  would  otherwise  carry  on  as  well  without  it,  why.  cultivate  and 
protect  it  so  sedulously?  Why  not  rather  sweep  it  away  as  a  narrow- 
minded  and  exclusive  organization,  and  let  every  citizen  know  that  his 
first  and  last  allegiance  is  to  the  State? 

"  The  answer  is,  that  even  if  the  world  could  carry  on  without  the 
family,  it  could  not  afford  to  lose  the  qualities  which  would  go  with  it. 
It  is  a  sombre  world  as  it  is,  and  no  shade  or  tone  of  feeling  which  makes 
for  depth  and  variety  and  richness  can  be  spared  from  it.  To  reject  the 
source  of  so  much  warmth  and  beauty  because  it  sometimes  fails,  would 
be  like  banishing  the  sun  from  the  sky  because  it  is  sometimes  covered 
with  clouds. 

"  Nor  is  it  true  that  the  world  would  carry  on  as  well  without  it.  Apart 
from  the  fact  that  no  one  has  ever  yet  devised  an  adequate  substitute 
for  a  parent,  the  further  fact  remains  that  the  family,  with  its  mingled 
diversity  and  identity  of  interests,  is  the  best  —  if  not  indeed  the  only  — • 
school  for  the  life  of  the  citizen.  .  .  . 

"  There  is  no  doubt  about  the  fact  that  the  man  who  has  learned  how 


146  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

to  lead  both  an  individual  and  a  peaceful  life  within  a  large  family  will 
find  it  surprisingly  easy  to  get  on  with  his  fellow-citizens  in  the  larger 
world,  for  he  will  have  learned  the  difficult  art  of  respecting  the  interests 
of  others  while  maintaining  his  own." — Bosanquet:  The  Family,  pp. 
244-246. 

(5)  The  flagrant  abuse  of  American  divorce  laws  has  been  well,  but 
perhaps  not  unjustly,  satirized  by  Mr.  Dooley:  "  In  Kentucky  baldness 
is  grounds  for  divorce;  in  Ohio  th'  inclemency  iv  th'  weather.  In  Illinye 
a  woman  can  be  freed  fr'm  th'  gallin'  bonds  iv  mathrimony  because  her 
husband  wears  Congress  gaiters;  in  Wisconsin  th'  old  man  can  get  his 
maiden  name  back  because  his  wife  tells  fortunes  in  th'  taycup.  In 
Nebrasky  th'  shackles  ar-re  busted  because  father  forgot  to  wipe  his  boots; 
in  New  York,  because  mother  knows  a  Judge  in  South  Dakota.  Ye  can 
be  divoorced  f 'r  anything  if  ye  know  where  to  lodge  th'  complaint.  Among 
th'  grounds  ar-re  snorin',  deefness,  because  wan  iv  th'  parties  dhrinks  an'  th' 
other  doesn't,  because  wan  don't  dhrink  an'  th'  other  does,  because  they 
both  dhrink,  because  th'  wife  is  addicted  to  sick  headaches,  because  he 
asked  her  what  she  did  with  that  last  ten  dollars  he  gave  her,  because 
he  knows  some  wan  else,  because  she  injyes  th'  society  iv  th'  young,  because 
he  f 'rgot  to  wind  th'  clock.  A  husband  can  get  a  divoorce  because  he  has 
more  money  thin  he  had;  a  wife,  because  he  has  less.  Ye  can  always  get 
a  divoorce  f'r  what  Hogan  calls  incompatibility  iv  temper.  That's  whin 
husband  an'  wife  ar-re  both  cross  at  th'  same  time.  Ye'd  call  it  a  tiff 
in  ye'er  fam'ly,  Hinnissy." 

(10)  The  practical  results  of  trying  to  enforce  a  religious  ideal  in  Cath- 
olic France  rather  than  a  workable  rule  as  in  Protestant  Prussia  is  illus- 
trated in  the  following  statement  in  Moore's  Social  Ethics  and  Social 
Duties,  p.  148:  "  A  nation  without  marriage  would  be  without  civilization. 
A  nation  without  divorce  would  be  without  morals.  In  France  the  law 
tolerated  no  divorce,  and  so  the  people  practiced  universal  license.  In 
Prussia  the  law  opens  seven  gates  of  exit  from  marriage,  and  so  the  fashion- 
able standard  of  morality  is  almost  puritanic." 

{11)  The  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America 
speaking  on  "  The  Family  Life  "  appeals  to  the  churches  for  co-operation 
in  bringing  about  certain  reforms  in  relation  to  marriages  and  divorces. 
The  committee  especially  urge,  among  other  things,  "  the  need  of  comity 
between  the  churches  themselves  so  that  persons  who  cannot  be  married 
by  their  own  ministers  will  resort  in  vain  to  ministers  of  other  churches  for 
that  object.  As  particularly  pertinent  at  this  time  the  committee  strongly 
urge  great  care  in  the  marriage  of  persons  unknown  to  the  officiating 
clergyman,  and  of  those  who  appear  to  be  either  morally  or  physically 
unfit  for  married  life.  Moreover  the  recognized  evils  of  sexual  vice  are 
urged  upon  the  attention  of  the  churches,  and  upon  the  utmost  corrective 
influence  of  the  clergy,  teachers,  and  parents,  but  always,  of  course,  in 
ways  that  are  wise  and  efficient.  Finally  the  churches  are  urged  to  press 
upon  the  consideration  of  the  public  this  vital  relation  of  the  family  in  its 
best  estate  to  the  great  interests  of  religion,  education,  industry,  and  public 
order.  Every  tendency  in  any  of  these  activities  that  weakens  the  home 
should  be  resisted.  Every  plan  for  the  promotion  of  any  of  these  activities 
should  be  judged  by  its  probable  influence  on  the  home.    This  is  for  the 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  SO  147 

double  reason  that  the  home  is  essentially  important  to  social  welfare 
and  that  it  has  in  the  past,  even  in  Christian  countries,  been  too  much 
neglected.  No  one  can  deny  that  both  from  the  standpoint  of  patriotism 
and  religion  the  home  needs  all  the  watchcare  and  protection  that  are 
solicited  for  it." —  The  Watchman,  January  18,  1912. 

The  Question  for  Discussion.  Why  should  the  welfare  of  the  family 
be  considered  the  ultimate  aim  of  all  social  work? 

"  Biology  and  economics  join  hands  with  poetry  and  religion  in  exalting 
the  family  to  a  first  place  among  human  institutions.  To  protect  the  family 
from  disintegration  and  decay  is  the  surest  way  to  safeguard  the  State. 
All  kinds  of  social  work  may  be  described  in  terms  of  family  welfare.  All 
kinds  of  anti-social  influences  may  be  measured  by  their  untoward  effects 
on  family  life.  As  the  individual  members  of  the  family  attain  to  a 
higher  and  more  perfect  social  life,  this  is  reflected  in  their  relations  one 
to  another.  Schools,  clubs,  playgrounds,  hospitals  and  other  institutions 
outside  the  family  may  be  most  necessary  and  most  beneficial;  but  if 
so  they  will  in  the  long  run  strengthen  and  add  zest  to  the  family  circle. 
The  saloon,  the  gambling  house  and  the  disorderly  house  may  show  their 
destructive  character  in  other  more  direct  ways,  but  in  the  end  the  full 
extent  of  their  harm  to  society  is  most  plainly  visible  in  the  broken  homes 
and  the  unhappy  families  for  which  they  are  responsible. 

"  To  maintain  normal  family  life,  to  restore  it  when  it  has  been  interfered 
with,  to  create  conditions  more  and  more  favorable  to  it,  is  thus  the  under- 
lying object  of  all  our  social  work.  Efforts  to  relieve  distress  and  to 
improve  general  conditions  are  shaped  by  our  conception  of  what  consti- 
tutes normal  family  life." —  Devine:  The  Family  and  Social  Work,  pp. 
31,  32. 


Lesson  50.    THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  PUBLIC 
SCHOOLS. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  show  that  the  public  schools,  though  im- 
parting no  formal  religious  instruction,  are  not  "  Godless,"  and  that  in 
indirect  ways  the  churches  can  co-operate  in  developing  their  greater 
moral  and  religious  influence. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

While  the  question  of  religious  instruction  in  the  public  schools  and  the 
relation  of  the  churches  to  them  has  been  widely  discussed  during  the  last 
fifty  years,  this  discussion  has  been  carried  on  in  religious  newspapers  and 
magazines  rather  than  in  books.  The  most  recent  and  illuminating  con- 
tributions to  this  subject  are  found  in  the  papers  read  before  the  Religious 
Education  Association  during  the  past  ten  years.  Some  of  these  are  re- 
ferred to  in  the  pupils'  lesson.  The  subject,  however,  is  of  such  general 
interest  that  most  teachers  will  need  little  information  beyond  that  given 
in  the  lesson  and  in  the  additional  material  quoted  below. 


14S  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

'  TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Assignments.  The  next  lesson  presents  the  subject  of  World 
Peace.  Not  long  ago  it  was  considered  an  idle  dream,  but  now  it  is  en- 
gaging the  serious  attention  of  a  steadily  increasing  number  of  people  in 
almost  all  nations. 

Ask  a  member  of  the  class  to  prepare  a  brief  statement  of  reasons  why- 
most  of  us  are  so  indifferent  to  the  horrors  of  war;  or,  on  the  question: 
How  much  does  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States  cost  the  families 
represented  in  this  class? 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {2)  It  is  often  said  that  the  public 
schools  shoiild  confine  themselves  to  the  task  of  giving  the  boys  and  girls 
a  purely  intellectual  training,  and  leave  religion  and  morals  to  the  home 
and  the  church.  This  cannot  be  done.  The  boys  and  girls  bring  to  the 
school  not  only  their  intellects,  but  their  bodies  and  their  moral  natures 
as  well.  It  is  universally  recognized  that  a  school  in  order  to  train  for 
social  efficiency  must  teach  the  pupils  how  to  care  for  their  bodies  by  fresh 
air,  exercise,  proper  plays  and  games,  and  that  so  far  as  possible  it  must 
correct  physical  imperfections.  So  likewise  it  is  the  function  of  the 
school  to  strengthen  the  moral  faculties  by  exercising  them.  Every  task 
half  done  leaves  the  pupil  morally  worse  off,  and  for  every  task  well  done 
he  is  morally  better. 

But  even  if  it  were  possible  to  give  a  purely  intellectual  training  in  the 
public  schools  it  would  be  in  the  highest  degree  undesirable.  The  most 
dangerous  criminals  are  not  the  most  ignorant,  but  those  who  have  the 
keenest  mental  training  with  their  moral  nature  left  undeveloped. 

(5)  The  writer  was  given  some  time  ago  a  copy  of  The  Only  Sure  Guide 
to  the  English  Tongue,  or  Perry's  Spelling  Book,  published  in  1822,  and 
"  Adapted  to  the  Present  State  of  Learning  in  the  United  States."  The 
spelling  lessons,  beginning  with  a  b  ab,  e  b  eb,  etc.,  are  interspersed  with 
"  easy  lessons  "  in  reading.  The  first  of  these  in  "  words  not  exceeding 
three  letters  "  covers  a  page  with  such  "  milk  for  babes  "  as  the  following 
admonitions  and  reflections: 

"  My  son,  go  not  in  the  way  of  bad  men." 

"  In  God  is  all  my  joy,  O  let  me  not  sin." 

"  Bad  men  cannot  go  to  God." 

"  Do  as  men  bid;  but  if  you  are  bid,  do  no  ill." 

"  Let  me  not  go  to  the  pit  by  sin. 

Let  me  not  go  out  of  the  way  of  thy  law." 

"  A  bad  man  is  a  foe  to  God,"  etc. 

The  children  are  constantly  reminded  of  death  and  the  grave  in  such 
ways  as  the  following : 

"  My  son,  live  well,  and  God  will  make  thee  die  well." 

"  Dust  we  are,  and  to  dust  we  must  all  go  down." 

"  The  high  and  the  low,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  wise  and  the  igno- 
rant, when  the  soul  hath  shaken  off  the  cumbrous  shackles  of  this  mortal 


The  Senior  Teacher —  Lesson  50  140 

life,  shaU  equally  receive  from  the  sentence  of  God,  a  just  and  everlasting 
retribution  according  to  their  works."  .  u     o  oor-;^c  ^f 

The  spelUng  and  "  easy  "  reading  lessons  are  followed  by  a  series  of 
"Moral  Tales  and  Fables,"  and  "Lessons  from  Different  Authors," 
which  include,  of  course,  a  description  of  "  The  Court  of  Death."  The 
book  naturally  concludes  with  a  sketch  of  the  reUgious  condition  of  the 
world,  and  of  the  distinctive  beliefs  of  the  leading  Protestant  denomina- 
tions.' Earnest  advocates  of  rehgious  instruction  in  the  pubhc  schools  will 
hardly  regret  the  disappearance  of  such  methods  as  were  in  common  use 
in"  the  good  old  days."  ,      ,      r  xt 

{6)  That  moral  training  is  not  neglected  in  the  pubhc  schools  of  New 
York  City  is  shown  by  a  "  Syllabus  on  Ethics  "  issued  for  the  use  of 
teachers.     A  few  extracts  follow:  .    u    vt 

"  It  should  be  the  aim  of  every  teacher  to  make  each  part  of  the  lite 
of  the  school  count  for  moral  education.  This  aim  should  be  present,  not 
only  in  formal  instruction  and  training,  but  also  m  the  general  atmosphere 
and  spirit  of  the  classroom  and  of  the  school.  .  In  workmg  toward  this 
aim,  the  following  suggestions,  based  on  the  experience  of  practical  teachers, 

"'"  ^Trpel^sSty  of  the  teacher  is  at  the  root  of  all  moral  education 
in  the  school.  The  teacher's  ideals,  sincerity,  poise,  self-control  courtesy, 
voice    manner,  dress,  and  general  attitude  toward  life  are  potent  forces 

'°-'?Tet";ncet'vital  to  morahty.  Whatever  quickens  in  children 
thefedingof  dependence  on  a  Higher  Power,  whatever  leads  them  de^^^^^ 
fn  wnnrlpr  at  the  order  beautv,  or  mystery  of  the  universe,  whatever 
a?ouse"tn  tfenthe^s^^^^^^^^  Jf' worship  or  fels  them  with  admiration  o 
tme  greatness,  promotes  reverence.  There  is  no  subject  studied  in  school 
S  reve?ently  taught,  may  not  y  ield  its  contribution  to  this  feehng    . 

"The  following  list  of  topics  will  supply  material  for  many  practical 
lessons  in  morals  and  manners:  (a)  Duties  to  parents,  brothers,  sisters 
and  playmates;  to  servants  and  other  employees  ^o  employers  and  i^^^^^ 
aiithoritv  to  the  aged,  the  poor,  and  unfortunate.  (&)  Conduct  at  Home, 
aftabk  it  school  on  the  street,  in  pubhc  assemblies  and  m  pubhc  con- 
veyances (.TThe  common  virtues,  such  as  regularity,  punctuality, 
selcontrol  cheerfulness,  neatness,  purity.^  temperance,  honesty,  truth- 
fulness, obedience,  industry,  and  patriotism.  •     1  r-t,  • 

Professor  Graham  Taylor,  speaking  of  the  exhibition  of  practical  Chris- 
tianity in  the  city  schools,  exclaimed:  ,        ,      ,  -u 

"  Don't  talk  to  me  about  Godless  schools,  when  I  see  th^  school  omnibus 
.;ton  in  front  of  a  tenement  and  the  city's  employee  go  up  to  the  fifth  floor 
?n  brin^  down  a  criS  chil^   who  cannot  walk  a  step,  to  take  him  to  a 

'^^:oxi^iz^:^!^i\  fo  such  as  he.  Do  ^^^^^^^ ^j:^^^^^^ 

thit  the  functions  of  the  church  are  superseded?     No,  they  mean  tnat  we 
have  bui/rd '^  we  know  -  that  reUgion  has  gotten  out  into  the 

""^(S"  Dr.  Nathaniel  Butler  in  a  paper  on  "  The  Teacher  as  a  Constructive 
Moral  Force  "  gives  the  following  illustration  of  the  way  m  which  a  tact- 


150  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

ful  teacher  can  win  a  boy  to  righteousness  without  preaching  or  other 
formal  rehgious  teaching: 

"  One  of  the  smaller  high  schools  of  a  large  city  in  the  Northwest  is 
housed  in  a  building  which  it  does  not  completely  fill.  Other  rooms  in 
the  building  are  therefore  occupied  by  the  four  upper  grades  of  grammar 
school  children.  The  principal  of  the  high  school  is  also  principal  of  the 
building.  All  cases  of  discipline  in  the  grade  rooms  are  referred  to  him. 
His  method  of  dealing  with  these  cases  is  this :  When  a  boy  is  sent  to  him 
for  the  first  time  by  a  grade  teacher,  for  some  misdemeanor,  the  principal 
takes  out  a  large  blank  book,  and  turns  to  the  section  of  pages  devoted  to 
the  grade  room  from  which  the  culprit  comes.  '  What  is  your  name?' 
says  the  principal.  *  Well,  I  see  you  haven't  been  sent  to  me  before. 
Now  I  don't  know  you.  You  may  be  a  very  good  boy  for  all  I  know. 
Good  boys  sometimes  make  mistakes.  Now  I'll  just  make  a  note  in  pencil, 
that  you  were  sent  to  me  today,  and  I  will  also  note  why  you  were  sent. 
But  you  see  I  am  making  this  memorandum  in  pencil,  and  I  am  not  bearing 
on  very  hard.  And  if  you  are  not  sent  to  me  again  this  year,  I  shall  just 
erase  this  from  my  book  and  no  one  will  ever  know  anything  about  it.' 
It  is  perfectly  apparent  that  we  have  here  a  sort  of  genius  in  the  matter  of 
discipUne.  His  one  purpose  is  to  win  the  boy  to  righteousness  —  to  give 
him  a  chance  and  a  motive." 

A  plan  for  home  study  of  the  Bible  in  connection  with  the  pubHc  schools 
has  been  introduced  in  South  Dakota  which  might  work  well  elsewhere: 
"  A  course  of  Bible  study  is  outHned  by  the  school  authorities  and  the 
work  is  done  by  the  pupils  at  home  under  guidance  of  parents  or  other 
persons  they  may  select.  The  pupils  are  examined  by  the  high  school 
board  and  given  regular  credit,  such  as  is  given  for  other  elective  work. 
This  Bible  study  is  not  compulsory,  and  any  version  or  translation  may 
be  used,  as  the  parents  choose.  The  plan  has  been  tried  with  satisfactory 
results  in  the  schools  of  North  Dakota,  where  it  originated,  and  now 
according  to  an  account  in  the  Churchman,  it  is  to  be  tried  in  Indiana. 
One-half  the  ordinary  elective  credit  is  allowed  for  this  study,  when  exam- 
inations are  passed." 

The  Question  for  Discussion.  Should  the  Bible  be  excluded  from 
the  pubhc  schools  wherever  a  small  minority  of  the  population  insist  on 
it? 

Judge  Appleton  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  Maine  says,  if  the  Bible,  or 
any  version  of  it,  may  be  excluded  from  the  schools  because  of  the  teach- 
ings of  any  church,  the  same  result  may  ensue  as  to  any  other  book.  If 
any  one  sect  may  object,  the  same  right  must  be  granted  to  others.  This 
would  give  the  religious  sects  the  right  to  annul  any  regulation  of  the 
State  as  to  the  course  of  study,  and  the  books  to  be  used. 

The  opinion  expressed  by  Judge  Appleton  is  confirmed  by  facts.  Christian 
Scientists  in  increasing  numbers  are  protesting  against  any  instruction  in 
physiology  in  the  public  schools.  Curry's  United  States  History  is  a 
standard  textbook  throughout  the  South,  because  of  its  exposition  of  the 
rights  of  States  from  the  southern  point  of  view.  There  are  thousands  of 
people  in  the  South  to  whom  this  view  is  abhorrent,  since  it  justifies 


The  Senior  Teacher —  Lesson  51  151 

secession.  But  this  minority  is  not  allowed  to  overrule  the  majority. 
The  promoters  of  the  liquor  traffic  would  be  glad  to  have  every  temperance 
textbook  banished  from  the  schools,  if  they  could  have  their  way. 


Lesson  51.    WORLD  PEACE. 
Object  of  the  Lesson.     To  enlist  this  class  in  the  cause  of  the  move- 
ment for  international  peace. 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

The  literature  relating  to  world  peace  has  grown  to  great  proportions 
during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century.  Newpapers,  religious  weeklies, 
magazines,  have  teemed  with  discussions  of  the  subject.  A  few  of  the 
-nore  notable  books  published  in  recent  years  in  English  are  mentioned 
in  the  Additional  Reading  References.  The  Great  Illusion  has  received 
world-wide  comment,  and  will  give  the  teacher  a  vivid  conception  of  the 
social  conditions  that  have  made  modern  wars  unprofitable  to  all  concerned. 
The  small  volume  by  Novicow  takes  up  one  by  one  the  benefits  attributed 
to  war  by  its  advocates,  and  shows  that  these  benefits  are  wholly  imaginary. 
War  or  Peace  is  written  by  a  retired  brigadier-general  of  the  United  States 
army,  who  for  a  wonder,  espouses  the  pacifist  side,  and  presents  cogent 
reasons  for  the  substitution  of  justice  for  regiments  and  dreadnaughts. 
The  International  Mind,  by  President  Butler  of  Columbia  University, 
contains  five  addresses  delivered  as  chairman  of  the  Lake  Mohonk  Con- 
ference on  International  Arbitration.  Each  address  gives  an  inspiring 
survey  of  the  salient  aspects  of  the  peace  movement  during  the  year 
preceding  its  delivery.  The  Winepress,  a  poem  by  Alfred  Noyes,  the 
distinguished  English  poet  and  peace  advocate,  pictures  the  horrors  of 
war  and  the  sufferings  inflicted  on  the  innocent  in  scenes  drawn  from  the 
Balkan  conflict.  "  The  Discomfiture  of  the  Danes  "  in  Everybody' s  gives 
a  vivid  picture  of  the  power  of  finance  in  checking  war. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 
The  Assignment.  The  next  lesson  sums  up  the  duties  of  a  Christian 
citizen  in  respect  to  all  the  social  problems  considered  in  the  preceding 
twelve  lessons,  and  aims  to  show  how  these  duties  should  be  met  through 
the  exercise  of  the  franchise.  Appoint  some  member  of  the  class  to  pre- 
sent a  short  paper  on  the  reasons  why  a  Christian  citizen  should  or  should 
not  vote  with  his  political  party;  or.  What  influence  has  Jesus  Christ  upon 
the  voters  in  this  community?  or.  How  many  pf  the  voters  of  this  church 
vote  regularly  at  elections?    At  primaries? 


152  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {1)  Efforts  to  substitute  peace  for  war 
have  been  made  for  centuries  past.  Their  accomplishment  in  some  golden 
age  of  the  future  has  been  the  dream  of  prophets  and  poets.  In  early 
times  every  "  stranger,"  i.e.,  ahen  to  one's  own  clan  or  tribe,  was  an 
enemy.  Gradually  the  peace  areas  have  been  extended  by  the  consoHda- 
tion  of  tribes  into  states,  and  states  into  empires  in  which  peace  prevailed 
through  the  estabUshment  of  law  and  order.  Modern  France  is  the  result 
of  the  coalescence  of  eighty  originally  hostile  and  warring  peoples.  The 
modern  German  empire  has  been  formed  by  the  welding  together  of  six 
hundred  and  fifty  petty  principalities  whose  rulers  with  their  retainers 
were  accustomed  to  wage  frequent  wars  with  one  another  in  the  settle- 
ment of  their  private  disputes.  ''  The  world  is  now  deahng  with  the 
supreme  stages  of  the  process,  namely,  the  appHcation  to  the  nations,  on 
the  world  stage,  of  principles  of  law  and  order  which  have  already  been 
established  in  smaller  areas  within  each  nation." 

(7)  "It  is  becoming  every  day  more  clear  that  the  great  financial 
interests  of  the  world  can  '  hold  up  '  war  when  they  once  make  up  their 
minds  to  do  it.  We  do  not  overlook  the  fact  that  rumors  of  war,  like  those 
which  have  disturbed  the  markets  within  the  last  few  days,  instantly 
exert  a  depressing  effect  upon  financial  operations.  This  is  because 
dealers  as  yet  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  financial  powers  have 
definitely  taken  their  stand  against  further  mihtary  operations.  If  that 
fact  were  once  demonstrated  and  made  clear,  war  rumors  would  have  no 
more  effect  than  the  comets  and  ecHpses  that  in  other  days  were  as  dis- 
turbing to  business  men  as  they  still  are  to  superstitious  minds. 

"  What  is  chiefly  needed  today  in  the  interest  of  world  peace  is  a  policy 
of  daring  and  resolution  on  the  part  of  the  leaders  of  finance,  industry  and 
pubhc  opinion.  The  first  step  is  to  recognize  frankly  the  fact  that  certain 
powerful  interests  still  believe  in  war  and  that  certain  national  ambitions 
are  of  such  a  character  that,  without  hesitation,  war  would  be  resorted  to 
to  further  them  if  the  step  could  be  taken  safely.  Everybody  knows  what 
those  ambitions  are  and  where  they  are  centered.  That  part  of  the  civil- 
ized world  which  does  not  share  them  is  quite  large  and  powerful  enough  to 
prevent  their  realization  by  war,  if  the  determination  to  do  so  can  be 
formulated  and  organized.  It  is  entirely  within  possibility  to  make  the 
resort  to  war  so  disastrous  to  the  world  standing  of  any  great  nation  that 
attempts  it  that  the  purpose  will  be  abandoned.  The  moment  that  the 
great  financial  interests  say  the  word  it  will  become  suicidal  for  any  nation, 
however  obsessed  with  notions  of  its  own  greatness,  to  break  the  peace." — 
The  Independent,  July  13,  1911. 

(8)  The  spirit  of  opposition  to  militarism  in  Europe  is  taking  active 
form  in  emigration  where  actual  resistance  is  impossible,  as  shown  in  the 
following  extract  from  an  editorial  in  the  Boston  Herald,  February 
7,  1914:  "  The  means  employed  in  certain  parts  of  Austria-Hungary 
[to  restrict  emigration]  can  do  no  good  to  that  empire,  its  government,  nor 
any  of  its  people.  On  both  sides  of  the  Carpathians,  in  Galicia  and  North- 
eastern Hungary,  the  government  is  making  charges  of  sedition  against 
its  conscripts,  and  arresting  and  imprisoning  them,  so  that  they  may  not 
take  ship  and  get  away  from  the  summons  to  join  the  army.    The  Ruthe-^ 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  51  153 

nians  and  the  Poles  are  very  carefully  watched.  They  are  influenced 
by  the  wave  of  anti-militarism  which  is  sweeping  over  Europe.  In  1904 
the  number  of  our  Ruthenian  immigrants  was  9592;  last  year  it  was  30,588. 
In  the  same  period  the  Polish  immigration  rose  from  67,757  to  174,365, 
much  of  it  from  Austrian  Poland.  During  the  year  ended  June  30,  1913, 
we  had  altogether  254,825  immigrants  from  Austria-Hungary,  and  in  the 
succeeding  six  months  170,272. 

"  It  is  no  wonder  that  the  Vienna  and  Budapest  war  offices  are  anxious 
to  stop  such  an  export  of  '  food  for  powder.'  But  there  is  something 
wrong  with  a  system  of  government  from  which  the  young  men  take 
flight  in  search  of  freedom.  They  are  not  cowards  running  off  at  the 
thought  of  battle.  It  takes  courage  to  carry  them  into  voluntary  exile, 
leaving  behind  them  all  that  is  dear  —  except  liberty.  Great  armaments 
involve  compulsory  military  service,  grinding  taxation  and  an  impover- 
ished people.  These  are  the  evil  conditions  from  which  vast  numbers 
seek  relief  by  coming  to  America." 

{10)  The  modern  peace  movement  "  may  be  said  to  have  begun  with  the 
writing  by  Grotius  in  1624  of  his  treatise  entitled  '  The  Rights  of  War 
and  Peace.'  It  has  led  to  the  growth  of  several  societies  of  international 
law  and  to  professorships  on  this  subject  in  all  universities.  The  organi- 
zation in  1889  of  the  Interparliamentary  Union,  which  now  comprises  in 
its  membership  over  2500  members  of  present  or  past  parliaments,  and  in 
1890  of  the  Pan-American  Union,  are  features  of  the  movement.  It 
has  resulted  in  the  assembling,  in  1899  and  1907  respectively,  of  the 
First  and  Second  Hague  Conferences,  which  have  brought  into  one  room 
at  last  representatives  of  all  nations  to  deal  in  the  manner  of  a  parliament 
with  matters  of  international  concern.  Besides  doing  many  things  of 
less  importance,  these  conferences  established  the  Convention  for  the 
Pacific  Settlement  of  International  Disputes  under  which  President 
Roosevelt  put  an  end  by  mediation  to  the  war  between  Russia  and  Japan, 
and  in  accordance  with  whose  provisions  a  Commission  of  Inquiry  was 
appointed  which  prevented  war  over  the  Dogger  Banks  affair  between 
Great  Britain  and  Russia.  They  also  established  the  International  Prize 
Court  to  pass  on  the  legality  of  the  seizure  of  ships  at  sea,  and  a  perma- 
nent International  Tribunal  at  the  Hague  (of  mixed  judicial  and  diplomatic 
nature)  which  in  1910  settled  the  Newfoundland  Fisheries  Dispute.  They 
also  provided,  as  their  crowning  service  to  the  world,  for  a  true  International 
Court  of  Arbitral  Justice,  which  is  now  on  the  point  of  being  established  at 
the  Hague,  and  which  will  be  always  in  session  for  the  settlement  of  differ- 
ences between  nations." —  From  circular  issued  by  Citizens'  National 
Committee  in  Support  of  the  Ratification  of  the  General  Arbitration 
Treaties  with  Great  Britain  and  France. 

Further  work  to  be  accomplished  by  the  Hague  Conference  is: 

"  The  final  establishment  of  the  International  Court  of  Arbitral  Justice, 
now  in  process  of  arrangement. 

"  The  development  of  the  Hague  Conferences  into  a  true  International 
Parliament,  meeting  at  stated  intervals. 

"  The  establishment  of  a  small  international  police  force. 

"  The  gradual  and  proportionate  disarmament  of  the  nations. 

"  The  continued  growth,  among  peoples  of  different  language  and  nation- 
ality, of  mutual  knowledge  and  respect." —  Ibid. 

{11)  The  enlarging  popular  interest  in  international  peace  is  indicated 


154  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

by  the  following  facts :  ' '  The  growth  of  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  peace 
societies  scattered  over  the  whole  civilized  world;  the  establishment  of 
great  endowments  —  the  Nobel  Institute,  the  World  Peace  Foundation, 
the  Carnegie  Endowment;  the  education  of  the  young  in  the  principles  of 
international  justice  and  peace;  and  the  uprising  of  the  churches  are  among 
the  things  which  bear  witness  to  the  determination  that  nothing  shaU 
be  left  undone  that  can  advance  it.  The  nations,  led  by  our  American 
Congress  and  President,  have  entered  officially  into  the  movement.  The 
main  interest,  the  world  over,  now  centers  in  the  adoption  of  all-inclusive 
arbitration  treaties,  which  shall  bind  the  nations  to  send  their  disputes  to 
the  Hague  for  peaceful  decision." —  Ibid. 

The  Question  for  Discussion.  Is  the  United  States  in  position  to  lead 
in  the  movement  for  world  peace? 

The  geographical  isolation  of  the  United  States  removes  it  from  direct 
contact  with  the  great  nations  of  the  world. 

Its  population,  wealth,  material  and  intellectual  resources  make  it  in 
some  respects  the  leading  nation  of  the  world. 

Its  freedom  from  entangling  alliances  with  other  nations,  and  from  the 
prejudices,  hatreds,  and  jealousies  inherited  from  ages  of  strife,  enables 
it  to  consider  dispassionately  matters  of  international  interest. 

Its  traditional  policy  of  abstaining  from  absorption  of  foreign  territory 
for  national  aggrandizement  expose  its  actions  to  no  suspicion  of  ulterior 
motives. 

Its  just  dealings  with  other  nations,  as  in  the  matter  of  the  Chinese 
indemnity,  its  keeping  faith  with  Cuba  in  giving  it  self-government,  and 
its  present  policy  of  educating  the  Filipinos  for  the  same,  have  shown  a 
disposition  so  different  from  that  of  other  great  powers  as  to  inspire  a 
general  confidence  in  its  good  intentions. 

Its  prosperity  as  a  peaceful  nation,  comparatively  free  from  the  crush- 
ing burdens  of  militarism,  and  yet  abundantly  able  to  protect  itself  from 
internal  or  external  foes,  makes  it  an  object  lesson  to  the  rest  of  the 
world. 

In  the  promotion  of  world  peace  the  United  States  can  more  easily 
become  a  leader  than  any  other  nation.  Instead  of  merely  following  the 
other  nations  in  their  insane  belief  that  the  best  way  to  maintain  peace 
is  to  be  prepared  for  war,  our  country  can  win  immortal  renown  by  break- 
ing away  from  this  delusion  and  heading  "  the  procession  of  the  nations 
whose  faces  are  toward  the  light." 


The  Senior  Teacher  —  Lesson  52  155 

Lesson  52.     CHURCH   MEMBERS   AS   VOTERS. 

Object  of  the  Lesson.  To  lead  church  members  to  realize  more  fully 
their  practical  civic  obHgations, 

PREPARING  THE  LESSON. 

Most  of  the  literature  bearing  on  the  subject  discussed  in  this  lesson 
occurs  in  newspaper  articles,  papers  read  before  various  conventions,  or 
incidentally  in  books  treating  other  matters.  If  the  articles  referred  to 
for  additional  reading  are  not  obtainable,  the  teacher  can  give  a  very  practi- 
cal turn  to  the  lesson  by  taking  up  some  of  the  local  conditions  suggested 
in  the  Subjects  for  Special  Study  and  Note-Book  Work.  The  additional 
material  given  below  will  suggest  ideas  for  further  development. 

TEACHING  THE  LESSON. 

The  Questions  on  the  Lesson.  {6)  "  The  most  serious  political  ques- 
tion before  the  country  is,  not  how  shall  we  educate,  in  the  ordinary  sense, 
those  whom  we  call  the  masses,  but  how  shall  we  raise  in  those  already 
educated  the  moral  estimate  of  citizenship?  The  greatest  poHtical  danger 
of  our  time  does  not  come  directly  from  ignorance,  but  from  the  use  made 
of  ignorance  by  the  intelHgence  of  organized  power,  with  the  tacit  consent 
of  the  intelligence  of  culture.  Ignorance  may  be  the  condition;  it  is  not 
the  inciting  cause  of  poHtical  corruption.  That  cause  lies 'within  the 
region  of  intelHgent  dishonesty.  ^  It  is  our  bounden  duty,  for  every  reason, 
to  educate  the  ignorant;  but  it  is  a  shame  that  we  are  obliged  to  educate 
them  for  the  sake  of  protecting  ourselves  from  our  own  trained  and  often 
educated  leaders,  who  have  become  adepts  in  corruption." — President 
W.  J.  Tucker  in  Proceedings  of  Third  Convention  of  The  Religious  Educa- 
tion Association^  p.  57. 

(7)  "A  group  of  men  discussed  several  evenings  ago  the  talk  about  old 
political  nostrums.  .  .  . 

"  It  was  the  opinion  of  several  in  the  group  that  much  of  the  dissatis- 
faction with  political  conditions  had  come  from  voters  who  had  neglected 
their  opportunities  to  straighten  out  affairs  themselves.  They  referred 
to  the  fact,  or  what  they  believed  to  be  a  fact,  that  this  is  a  delegated 
government  —  not  a  representative  government  nor  a  democratic  govern- 
ment, but  a  delegated  government  and  nothing  more.  They  told  how 
merchants,  professional  men  and  many  others  engaged  in  the  activities 
of  life  failed  year  in  and  year  out  to  attend  the  primaries  of  their  parties. 
They  insisted  that  the  primary  is  the  unit  of  government. 

"  One  in  the  gathering  was  a  merchant  who  likes  to  take  a  hand  in 
politics;  another  was  a  lawyer,  another  was  an  importer,  and  they  admitted 
that  they  seldom,  if  ever,  attended  the  primaries  of  their  parties,  and 
in  remaining  away  had  left  the  control  of  those  primaries  in  the  hands  of 
professional  politicians,  and  thus  these  professional  politicians  had,  through 
the  voters'  own  negligence,  been  delegated  to  represent  them  in  making 
nominations  for  local,  State,  and  eventually  national  offices,  as  well  as 
in  the  preparation  and  adoption  of  State  and  national,  platforms. 

"  One  of  the  lawyers  in  the  gathering  insisted  that  there  was  only  one 
remedy  which  would  compel  the  business,  professional,  and  working  men 
of  the  country  to  destroy  this  alleged  delegated  system  of  government. 


156  The  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons 

He  declared  that  this  remedy  consisted  entirely  and  only  in  an  amendment 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  which  would  disfranchise  a  voter 
who  did  not  attend  the  primaries.  .  .  . 

"  This  lawyer  believed  that  if  such  an  amendment  could  be  introduced 
and  passed  in  Congress  at  Washington  this  winter  it  would  forever  do 
away  with  the  system  of  delegated  government." — Howard  Elliott: 
Address  to  The  Lotus  Club  of  New    York,  pp.  11,  12. 

{10)  "  By  looking  over  the  country,  we  find  that  national  government  is, 
on  the  whole,  efficient  and  honest;  but  municipal  governments  are  prac- 
tically without  exception  corrupt  and  usually  inefficient.  Why  should 
this  be?  Every  Christian  feels  an  interest  in  national  elections,  and 
votes  as  a  rule;  while  a  comparatively  large  number  stay  away  from  the 
polls  at  municipal  elections.  Result?  Decent  men  are  nominated  for  the 
former;  tools  of  the  bosses  for  the  latter.  The  astute  politicians  figure 
out  these  facts  with  almost  mathematical  exactness.  If  women  really 
take  an  interest  in  politics,  they  may  exercise  a  great  influence  by  urging 
their  husbands,  brothers,  fathers,  friends,  to  vote,  not  only  at  elections,  but 
at  primaries.  The  churches  should  emphasize  the  importance  of  the 
ballot,  not  only  as  a  precious  right,  but  as  a  sacred  duty.  And  the  pulpit 
should  educate  the  people  in  regard  to  civic  duties. 

"  That  is  the  least  they  can  do.  But  it  is  not  enough.  It  is  of  com- 
paratively little  importance  to  vote  for  a  man  nominated  by  a  political 
machine  —  he  wiU  be,  as  a  rule,  a  '  stand-patter  ';  and  since  both  parties 
do  that,  the  choice  is  as  a  rule  only  between  two  evils.  Christian  people 
must  organize  in  order  to  prevent  the  nomination  of  bad  or  inefficient  men 
and  to  nominate,  if  possible,  honest  and  efficient  men.  Nor  is  that  enough. 
Christian  people  must  be  willing  to  take  office,  if  it  should  come  to  them; 
and  seek  it,  if  the  welfare  of  the  community  so  requires.  The  best  way  to 
teach  good  government  is  to  have  it  and  to  demonstrate  its  qualities. 
For  this  purpose  Christian  people  should  see  to  it  that  the  men  they 
propose  for  office  are  well  qualified.  Finally,  Christian  people  should 
seek  to  a  larger  extent  than  at  present,  public  office,  and  should  encourage 
civil-service  reforms.  Public  offices  are  for  all  citizens  —  why  then  should 
a  certain  class  of  the  population  practically  monopolize  them?  Public 
service  offers  an  honorable  career  and  a  competency.  Christian  young 
men  with  a  competency  are  particularly  lu-ged  to  enter  the  public  service. 
It  should  appeal  both  to  their  heroism,  because  they  will  meet  many 
obstacles,  and  to  their  patriotism,  because  no  other  duty  is  as  imperatively 
necessary  at  present  as  the  purging  of  our  cities  from  corrupt  bosses.  In 
Europe  the  best  men  serve  their  city  or  nation  and  consider  it  an  honor. 
Are  we  less  patriotic?" — Josiah  Strong. 

The  Question  for  Discussion.  Should  a  church  member  absent  him- 
self from  the  church  prayer  meeting  for  a  political  caucus? 

"  A  minister  whose  congregation  held  a  meeting  on  the  same  night 
with  the  democratic  and  republican  primaries  looked  over  his  audience 
on  that  same  night  and  saw  not  a  few  men  there.  Rising  at  once  he  said, 
'  Tonight  the  democratic  and  republican  primaries  are  held  in  this  town.  I 
see  some  men  here  this  evening  who  have  no  business  to  be  here  at  all. 
While  we  are  singing  No.  385,  they  will  be  given  an  opportunity  to  go 
where  they  belong.'  That  minister  was  simply  playing  his  part  in  making 
the  Christian  spirit  through  the  campaign  for  national  righteousness  a 
world  force." 


Books  Reccommended 
BOOKS  RECOMMENDED. 

Addams,  Jane:  A  New  Conscience  and  an  Ancient  Evil.  Macmillan,  New  York,  1912, 
pp.  xi,  219,  $1.35.  Chapters  reprinted  from  McClure's  Magazine  on  the  white  slave 
traffic  in  America. 

Angell,  Norman  (Pen  name  for  Ralph  Norman  Angell  Lane) :  The  Great  Illusion.  G.  P. 
Putnam's  Sons,  New  York,  1911,  pp.  407,  $1.00.  A  startling  demonstration  of  the  fact 
that  modern  international  politics  have  been  so  essentially  changed  by  modern  social 
conditions  as  to  make  war  ruinous  to  all  parties  that  engage  in  it.  The  frequent  assertion 
that  man's  natural  pugnacity  stands  in  the  way  of  international  peace  is  disproved. 

Baker,  R.  S.:  Following  the  Color  Line.  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.,  Garden  City,  N.  Y., 
1908,  pp.  xii,  314,  $2.00.  A  clear,  fair  statement  of  race  conditions  as  seen  by  a  Northern 
man  on  an  extended  tour  through  the  South;  perhaps  the  sanest  book  on  the  subject  by  a 
Northern  man. 

Barker,  J.  M.:  The  Saloon  Problem  and  Social  Reform.  The  Everett  Press,  Boston, 
Mass.,  1905,  $1.00.  A  brief  statement  of  the  economic,  political,  social,  and  domestic 
aspects  of  the  saloon  problem.  It  is  a  plain,  unvarnished  presentation  of  facts  selected 
from  the  experiences  of  everyday  life.  A  fair  and  trustworthy  handbook  well  adapted 
for  use  by  teachers. 

Bosanquet,  Helen:  The  Family.  Macmillan,  New  York,  1906,  pp.  344,  $2.75.  A 
laborious,  delicate,  and  thoughtful  study  of  the  family,  the  perils  which  beset  it,  and  the 
transformations  it  is  undergoing. 

Bryce,  James:  The  Relation  of  the  Advanced  and  the  Backward  Races  of  Mankind.  Oxford 
University  Press,  1902,  pp.  46,  70  cents.  A  clear  statement  of  the  conditions  under  which 
races  amalgamate  and  of  those  under  which  racial  integrity  prevails. 

Commons,  J.  R.:  Races  and  Immigrants  in  America.  Macmillan,  New  York,  1907, 
$1.50.  A  standard  presentation  of  the  facts  respecting  immigration  into  the  United 
States.  Special  consideration  is  given  to  the  nineteenth  century  additions  and  their 
effects  on  industry,  labor,  city  life,  crime,  poverty,  and  politics.     Favors  restriction. 

Gulick,  S.  L.:  The  American  Japanese  Problem.  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York, 
1914,  pp.  349,  $1.75.  Professor  Gulick's  intimate  knowledge  of  Japan  derived  from  long 
residence  in  that  country,  and  his  careful  and  dispassionate  study  of  conditions  in  Cali- 
fornia, make  the  volume  the  most  valuable  contribution  toward  the  solution  of  a  complex 
and  irritating  race  problem  that  has  yet  been  presented. 

Murphy,  E.  G.:  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  New  York,  1909,  pp.  xi,  335,  $1.50.  The 
same,  Grosset  &  Dunlap,  New  York,  50  cents.  An  expression  of  the  spirit  of  the  New 
South,  dealing  with  many  phases  of  the  Negro  question. 

Noricow,  J.:  War  and  Its  Alleged  Benefits.  Henry  Holt  and  Co.,  New  York,  1911,  pp. 
130,  $1.00.  A  thorough  refutation  of  the  arguments  presented  by  those  who  advocate 
resort  to  war  because  of  the  numerous  benefits  which  they  claim  are  derived  from  it. 

Peabody,  Francis  G.:  Macmillan,  New  York,  1900,  pp.  374,  $1.50.  An  examination  of 
the  teaching  of  Jesus  in  its  relation  to  some  of  the  problems  of  modern  social  life,  especially 
as  these  problems  are  connected  with  the  family,  wealth,  poverty,  and  the  industrial  order. 

Pickett,  Wm.  P.:  The  Negro  Problem;  Abraham  Lincoln's  Solution.  G.  P.  Putnam's 
Sons,  New  York,  1909,  pp.  580,  $2.50.  Discusses  the  various  solutions  that  have  been 
proposed,  and  favors  that  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  advocated  the  removal  of  the  Negroes 
in  this  country  to  some  territory  where  they  would  not  suffer  from  social  disabilities.  The 
advantageous  results  to  the  Negroes,  to  the  South,  and  to  the  entire  nation  are  forcibly 
presented. 

Plantz,  S.:  The  Church  and  the  Social  Problem.  Jennings  and  Graham,  Cincinnati, 
1906,  pp.  356,  $1.25.  Presents  a  study  of  the  present  social  situation;  attempts  to  answer 
the  question  whether  the  church  has  a  special  mission  to  society;  and  brings  forward 
some  things  the  church  can  and  ought  to  do  to  meet  the  obligations  which  the  duties  of 
the  hour  impose  upon  her. 

Rauschenbusch,  W.:  Christianizing  the  Social  Order.  Macmillan,  New  York,  1912, 
pp.  493.  $1.50.  A  brilliant  discussion  of  the  relations  of  Christianity  to  the  industrial  and 
capitalistic  problems  of  our  time. 

■Travis,  Thos.:  The  Young  Malefactor.  T.  Y.  Crowell  and  Co.,  New  York,  1908,  $1.50. 
This  book  is  the  product  not  only  of  long  study  of  the  literature  of  crime,  but  of  criminals 
themselves.  The  causes,  social,  economic,  dispositional,  physiological,  individual,  and 
family  are  carefully  considered  and  assigned  their  proper  place  in  the  final  result.  Con- 
tains also  a  review  of  the  various  schemes  now  employed  in  the  treatment  of  young  law- 
breakers in  the  chief  countries  of  the  civilized  world. 

Warner,  H.  S. :  Social  Welfare  and  the  Liquor  Problem.  Intercollegiate  Prohibition 
Association,  Chicago,  1909,  pp.  300,  cloth  $1.00,  paper  35  cents.  Traces  the  history  of 
liquor  and  liquor  institutions,  their  relation  to  sickness,  to  economic  and  industrial  waste, 
and  to  education  and  society.  Important  tables  of  references  and  of  authorities  quoted 
follow  each  chapter. 

Weatherford,  W.  D.:  Negro  Life  in  the  South.  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  New  York,  1911,  pp.  188, 
50  cents.  The  author  is  a  Southern  man.  Student  Secretary  of  the  International  Com- 
mittee of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  for  the  South. 


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